________________
182
human life. A passage in the Pali Canon states that :
"Faith is the best treasure of man; through it one crosses the flood. For those who had faith was the gateway to immortality open.
62
THE DOCTRINE OF LIBERATION IN INDIAN RELIGIONS
In the Mahāyānasutras faith is eulogized to a still greater extent. A sutra quoted in the ślkṣāsamuccaya declares that faith is the supreme vehicle (śraddha hi paramam yānam). An influential sect of the Mahāyāna, still popular in the Far East and centred around the cult of Amitabha Buddha, is largely based on faith and devotion. Faith thus became an important strand in the Buddhist Way to Nirvāņa. THE BODHISATTVA'S WAY
In the Mahayana form of Buddhism the way to Nirvana has been universalized. The Mahayana thinkers have emphasized the great compassion of the Buddha. They have rightly pointed out that the Buddha propagated His teachings out of compassion for the world of living beings, for the benefit of all beings and for the happiness of all beings (bahujana hitāya bahujana sukhāya lokānukampāya). They sought to establish the equality of all beings on spiritual and metaphysical grounds. The fact that all beings seek happiness, fear death, and hate suffering shows that all beings are equal and they all deserve equal treatment. The doctrine of not-self further strengthened this argument. When all beings are without an enduring and substantial self, there can be no justification for seeking individual liberation; egoistical effort is, therefore, wrong and based on false views. A trully religious being must seek his liberation in and through the liberation of all beings. Such a being is called a bodhisattva; his will is fixed on Enlightenment; he is destined to become a Buddha. But he works for the safety and happiness of all other beings. He takes upon himself the task of universal liberation. He wants to attain Nirvana for the sake of deliverance of all the beings. In order to fulfil this task he practices certain moral and spiritual virtues to their perfection. These perfect virtues are called pāramitās. They are ten viz :
1. The perfection of liberality (dāna-pāramitā) 2. The perfection of morality (śīla-pāramitā) 3. The perfection of patience (kṣānti-pāramitā) 4. The perfection of energy (virya-pāramitā) 5. The perfection of meditation (dhyāna-pāramitā)
62. Samyuttanikaya, I. 214; G.C. Pande, op. cit., p. 522.
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