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NOVEMBER, 1879.]
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sadras, are then referred to. The proportion of the population interested in Brahmanism was thus diminished, until a revolution arose, which, indeed, ended in an outward return to the old state of things, although this was not restored without an essential internal modification. I now quote Prof. Ludwig's remarks, which follow in pp. 11-13, in full, as a specimen of his treatment of his subject :
"Thus arose the movement which introduced the appearance of Buddha, who proposed the happiness, the redemption, of all from evil, as the object of his efforts, his teaching, bis practice; and declared this goal to be attainable by all men. The power which Buddhism exercised upon the oppressed, and in no small measure upon the oppressors likewise, might, even if we had no direct and trustworthy evidence to the same effect, be recognized by the principles which Brahmanism has borrowed from it, in order to assert itself, and to regain its ancient predominance. The principle of tenderness to all living creatures, of liberation from evil, the theory of the transmigration of souls, &c., theorems which were altogether calculated to make a people like the Indians regard the oppressive caste system as endurable, - were derived from Buddhism. These theorems stood, no doubt, in irreconcilable opposition to the supposed origin of castes, and many of the grounds on which the caste system is combated in the more recent Buddhist writings are borrowed from the Buddhistic elements of the later Brahmanism. But the older Bråhmanism, too, in its complete transformation (uebergang) into pantheism, offered to the innovators sufficient points of connection in the view, which not rarely comes out in the Veda itself, of an unity in the nature of the godhead (R-V. x. 121; 82, 5-7). The progress in this direction may be traced from the the Veda through the Brahmanas and their branches the Aranyakas and Upanishads, in the philosophy of the Mimamså, the Sankhya, and the Yoga; it ends in Buddhism; for if, as the Rigveda already says, all the gods have sprung from one primeval germ, the game is true of things moving and stationary in general. (R.-V. x. 90.) If the castes, altogether and separately, have sprung from Purusha, an absolute distinctness of the three higher from the fourth is no longer tenable, as the Buddhists themselves intimate: (see Brih. Ar. Up. i. 4, 15; iv. 3, 22). The theory of the four ages (yugas)- which in a certain way existed already in the Vedio age, in its further extension gave the last impulse to the overthrow of the views regard
ing the caste system; so that the Brahmans also, in order to render a reconciliation possible, had to admit that a sodra might be born again as a Kshatriya, &c., and, on the other hand, a Brahman in one of the lower castes, and even as a Sadra.
"As Buddhism occasioned profound and essential alterations in the doctrines of Brahmanism, which could not again be expelled from them, 80 must also the long continued invasion of the lower classes have left traces, which could not be obliterated, in the entire population. The reconstruction of Brahmanism was only rendered possible by the incorporation in it of important materials, derived from the structure of Buddhism, which were but little in harmony with its ancient plan. Much of the earlier holy scriptures and traditions, which were guarded with so great jealousy, must in the interval have come to the knowledge of people who, according to the Brahmanical ideas, had no right to know it, as, at least, the Buddhistic writings assure us.
"And if, in the following period, the caste-system became more close, and the Pali dialect was set aside, and the sacred language was made the exclusive vehicle of literature, still during the reign of Buddhism the population must have been violently shaken together, (durcheinander geriirt) and have become quite changed; we see that while theory sought to realize the absurdest dreams, the actually existing circumstances practically decided matters, and were able to elevate even a sad ra to the throne. A powerful impression must also have been made upon men's views by the fact that alongside of Brahmanism there existed an independent ground, the occupation of which could enable men to defy the narrow prejudices of caste: besides, there now existed philosophical or philosophizing sects and schools which took their place beside Brahmanism, for the most part, no doubt, without claiming more than a theoretical significance, yet without giving up their own claim to be considered orthodox, however little their theorems might be really reconcilable with the scriptural belief of the Bråhmang.
"Buddha was a Kshatriya; but now the Brahmanas and Upanishads adduce examples of Brahmans being instructed by Kshatriyas in the highest truths of religion. Compare the wellknown history of Svetaketu Åruneys who came to Pravdhana Jaivali the king of the Panchalas, Chhandogya Up. vv. 3, 9 and Brih. År. Up. vi. 2), or the conversation between Gargya and Ajat asatru (Brih. Ar. Up. ii. 1). As the
Compare R-V. viii. 90, 14:-"Three races have passed away; others have been gathered around the sun and 1. 97, 1, "before the three ages of men," and so evidently
"in the former age of the gods," . 72, 8-t. the herbe came to the earth; and Atharva Veda viii. , 21.
