Manual of Indian Buddhism

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896 Excerpt: ...highly praised; Itiv. p. III. Praise of the true Brahman, S. Nip. p. 116. 7 Ang. N. II, p. 68. 8 Ang. N. I, p. 149: "Atta te, purisa, jSnati saccam va yadi va musa." The addition The other sources, the smrti-sile iadviddm and the dcarah s&dhunam of Manu, have not been lost sight of by the Buddhists. To these categories belong the duties qualified as panditapaiinatta and sappurisapahfiatta, and consisting in almsgiving, in ahimsd, and in supporting father and mother1. It is hardly accidental that almost all passages where moral duties are enjoined are either wholly or partly in metrical form, and this circumstance in combination with the fact of those passages containing so much that is contrary to the fundamental articles of the creed, leads us to the inference that the sect originally had no moral code at all, except the prohibitions and duties prescribed to the members of the Order, which only partly coincide with the laws of society in general. If we wish to form a just estimate of the character of Buddhist morals, such as laid down in the final redaction of the canonical books, we must bear in mind: 1. that the prescriptions were intended to supply the wants both of the ecclesiastics and of the laity; 2. that the Arhats are, to a certain extent, above common morality. The Sage, muni, has no attachment, does nothing what is pleasant nor what is unpleasant2. Those who are wise abandon their children3. A man who leaves his poor wife, the mother of his child, in order to become a. monk, and obstinately refuses to take care of her and the child, is held up to the admiration of the world as having done something very grand. Still at other times we read that one's wife is the best friend, and that a wife is the most excellent of goods, though rep...