The History of Antiquity Volume Iv Part 15

FOOTNOTES:

[345] La.s.sen, "Ind. Alterth." 2, 80.

[346] M. Muller, "Hist. Anc. Skt. Lit." p. 469 ff.

[347] "Rigveda," 1, 162, according to M. Muller's translation, _loc.

cit._ p. 553 ff.

[348] "catapatha-Brahmana," 13, 3, 1, 1, in M. Muller, _loc. cit._ p. 37 ff.

[349] "Ramayana," ed. Schlegel, 1, 11 ff. A. Weber, "Vorles." s. 126^2.

[350] "Vishnu-Purana," ed. Wilson, p. 470, 471. La.s.sen, "Ind. Alterth."

2^2, 319, 346, 963, 1001.

[351] M. Muller has placed the period of the origin of the Brahmanas in the period from 800 to 600 B.C.--very successfully, so far as I can see.

The collection of the Atharvan will belong to the end of this period, but not merely on the internal ground of the increase in the ceremonial brought about with and through the Brahmanas. The book of the law consistently cites the triple Veda; the sutras of the Buddhists and the Epos as consistently cite four. That the magic formulas of Atharvan and Angiras are quoted in Manu 11, 33, and not those of the Atharvaveda, seems also to prove that the latter collection was not made when the citations were written. Cp. A. Weber, "Vorl." s. 165^2.

[352] "Rigveda," 10, 9, 5-7.

[353] "Atharvaveda," 5, 19, 2, 1-5.

[354] Darmesteter, "Haurvatat," p. 74.

[355] "Atharvaveda," 2, 9.

[356] "Atharvaveda," 1, 25, 2, 8, quoted by Grohmann in Weber's "Ind.

Stud." 9, 391, 403, 406 ff. If Takman is called Deva, this is due to the connection in which he is placed with Varuna. Varuna sends diseases as punishments, dropsy, as a water-G.o.d, but fever also, and thus Takman can be called the son of Varuna.

[357] "Rigveda," 1, 50, 11, 12; 10, 97.

[358] Kuhn in his "Zeitschrift f. v. s." 13, 140 ff., where the coincidence of the German language is pointed out.

[359] M. Muller, "Hist. Anc. Skt. Lit." p. 230 ff.; 245 ff. A. Weber, "Vorles." s. 48^2.

[360] Burnouf, "Introduction," p. 456. M. Muller, _loc. cit._ p. 305.

La.s.sen, _loc. cit._ 2^2, 474.

[361] In the Brahmanas we only find traces of a quinquennial or s.e.xennial cycle. A. Weber, in "Z. D. M. G." 15, 132. The wors.h.i.+p of the Nakshatras, or houses of the moon, _i.e._ the division of the sky into 27 (later 28) parts by means of certain constellations as marks, is first found in a developed form in Buddha's time, as is proved by Burnouf and A. Weber ("Abh. d. Berl. Akad.," 1861, s. 320). Weber does not believe in the Indian origin of these stations of the moon; he regards them as Semitic, and borrowed from Babylonia, _loc. cit._ s.

363. The inquiry at what time these marks for the course of the moon according to the position of the stars were made astronomical has led to various results. Biot regards the year 2357 B.C. as the earliest point (the original number of 24 stations was increased to 28 about the year 1100 B.C.). A. Weber thinks that the period between 1472 and 536 B.C. is the s.p.a.ce within which the observation of the Jyotisha was fixed ("Studien," 2, 240, 413, 414. "Abh. d. Berl. Akad." 1860, s. 284; 1861, s. 354, 364), and shows that the use of these houses of the moon in China, in the order usual there, cannot be proved before 250 B.C. The Chinese order corresponds to the latest Indian arrangement of the Nakshatras, cf. "Ind. Stud." 9, 424 ff., whereas the length given in the Jyotisha for the longest and shortest day, suits the position of Babylon, _loc. cit._ 1861, s. 361. The Veda knows the Nakshatras as stars but not as stations of the moon, though they are known as the latter in the Brahmanas. The Vedic names of several of the G.o.ds who preside over the stations (Aryaman, Bhaga, etc.) prove a tolerably ancient origin for the Nakshatras. The civic computation of time among the Buddhists is founded on them. Hence we may a.s.sume that this division of the sky was perhaps current among the Indians in the tenth century B.C.

[362] A. Weber, in "Abh. d. Berl. Akad." 1861, s. 291.

[363] Manu, 3, 162; 6, 50.

[364] A. Weber, "Vorl." s. 224 ff. The first traces of astrology in the strict sense besides the mention in the book of the law are found in the sutras of the Buddhists, _e.g._ in Burnouf, _loc. cit._ p. 140, 141, if we do not prefer the accounts of the Greeks to those legends which were written in Magadhi (Pali) the native language of Magadha, and the central Ganges in general, and have come down in the form which they received in the middle of the third century B.C., but also contain fragments of far greater antiquity. In any case, preference must be given to the simple sutras (Burn. _loc. cit._ p. 232), and these lay great stress on the astrology and soothsaying of the Brahmans. After this we meet with numerous traces of astrology in the Epos; but the law-book of Yajnavalkya is the first to command the wors.h.i.+p of planets.

[365] M. Muller, _loc. cit._ p. 109 ff.

[366] Muir, "Sanskrit Texts," 3, 245 ff.

[367] A. Weber, "Indische Studien," 9, 2, 72, 74.

[368] Manu, 1, 33-40, 61, ff.

[369] Manu, 9, 31-34; 313-322.

[370] "Ramayana," ed. Schlegel, 1, 51-65. In this extended form this episode may, it is true, have first arisen at a much later time, as is shown by the mention of Vishnu and civa, and the Yavanas (Greeks). If in spite of these additions which are not important, I confidently place it at this date, I do so because the importance of the penitent and his power over the G.o.ds, the creation of beings by the penance of saints, _i.e._ the degradation of the G.o.ds, must be placed before the appearance of Buddha. This is the essential hypothesis for the religion which the doctrine of Buddha found in existence. In the Mahabharata this legend is told more briefly. Muir, "Sanskrit Texts," 196 ff.

[371] A. Weber, "Ind. Stud." 1, 414.

[372] The Sankhya system, which Buddha found in existence, presupposes the Vedanta system. The latter system must therefore have been in existence before Buddha; Roer, "Lecture on the Sankhya Philosophy,"

Calcutta, 1854, p. 19. The Vedanta is expressly mentioned in Manu, 2, 160, as belonging to the study of the Veda. The names Mimansa and Nyaya are also mentioned in Manu, but only in the final part, which is very loosely connected with the whole (12, 109, 111).

[373] Colebrooke, "Miscellaneous Essays," 1, 325 ff. M. Muller, "Beitrage zur Kenntniss der indischen Philosophie" in Z. D. M. G. 6, 6, 7.

[374] Colebrooke, "Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society," II, 1.

Vans Kennedy, "Asiatic Journal," 1839, p. 441 ff. Koppen, "Religion des Buddha," s. 57 ff. Wuttke, "Geschichte des Heidenthums," 2, 257, 281, 399

[375] It is in the later Upanishads that we first find the doctrine of Kapila called by the name Sankhya, Weber, "Vorles." s. 212; "Ind. Stud."

9, 17. As with the Vedanta system, so also with the Sankhya: in the Sankhya-Karika we have only a very late and compressed exposition in 72 clokas; but as Buddhism is founded on this system we are more certain about the earlier form of it than in the case of the Vedanta.

[376] Burnouf, _loc. cit._ p. 511.

[377] Roer, "Lecture," p. 15; Koppen, "Religion des Buddha," s. 65.

[378] "Sankhya-Karika," cl. 63.

[379] "Sankhya-Karika," cl. 44. Burnouf, _loc. cit._ p. 520, 522.

[380] "Sankhya-Karika," cl. 67. By the side of this keen scepticism the system of the Sankhya allows the gradation of creatures as fixed by the Brahmans to remain, and the migration of souls with some slight modifications. The lowest stage is formed by the minerals; above these are the plants, reptiles, birds, wild animals, domestic animals. These are followed by men in the order of the castes; and then come the regenerations in the form of demons, Picachas, Rakshasas, Yakshas and Gandharvas; and last in the form of Indra, Soma, Praj.a.pati, Brahman.

Barthelemy St. Hilaire, "sur le Sankhya," p. 286.

[381] Koppen, _loc. cit._ s. 69.

[382] Roer, "Lecture on the Sankhya Phil." p. 14; "Introduction to the cvetacvatara-upanishad," p. 36; cf. "Sankhya-Karika," cl. 53-55. Muir, "Sanskrit Texts," 3, 133 ff.

[383] Muir, _loc. cit._ 3, 108 ff.

BOOK VI.

BUDDHISTS AND BRAHMANS.