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a religious tradition wliose hold is hardly less wide and deep than any other. He belongs to the history of world's thought, to the general inheritance of all cultivated men, for judged by intellectual integrity, moral earnestness and spiritual insight, he is undoubledly one of the greatest figures in luistory." (Gautama the Buddha, reprinted from the Proceedings. of the British Academy, Vol. XXIV, London, 1938, p. 3; vide also DP, Introduction, p. 3).
SR is fair, appreciative and comparative in his exposition and evaluation of Buddhism. He is fair and appreciative, when he remarks that? "there is no question that the system of Buddhism is one of the most original which the history of philosophy presents. In its fuudamental ideas and essential spirit it approximates remarkably to the advanced scientific thought of the nineteenth century. The modern pessimistic philosophy of Germany, that of Schopenhauer and Hartman is only a revised version of ancient Buddhism." (IP, p. 342).
One of the remarkable and outstanding features of SR's writing is lucidity and perspicuity and this may be illustrated by his observation in the context of "Buddha and the Upanişads" :
"Buddha himself admits that the dharma which he has discovered by an effort of self-culture is the ancient way, the Aryan path, the eternal dharma. Buddha is not so much creating a new dharma as rediscussing a new norm. It is the venerable tradition that is being adapted to meet the special neds of the age". (IP. p. 360) Elsewhere he remarks, that he has "attempted" to make out the account of early Buddhism, and it is "only a restatement of the thought of the Upanişads with new emplasis". (IP; Appendix, p. 676). Note how cleverly and lucidly he experesses his opinion in the matter of contribution and indebtedness of Gautama, the Buddha to Upanişads. That how he is dispassionate in his exposition and evaluation may be illustrated with his following remark". Buddha was struck by the clashing enthusiasms, the discordant systems, the ebb and flow of belief and drew from it all his lesson of the futility of metaphysical thinking. Anarchy in thought was leading to anarchy in morals. Therefore Buddha wished to steer clear of profitless metaphysical dimensions. Whatever metaphysics we have in Buddhism is not the original Dhamma, but added to it (abhidamma), Buddhifm is essentially psychology, logic and ethics, not metaphysics" (IP. p. 353).
Every writer/crittc has his/her own way of criticisin and SR has his own distinct way. He can be charming and sweetly blunt, when necessary. And he appears to be so, when he refers to Hermann Oldenberg, while dealing with the concept ot nirvāņa. He (i.e. SR) observes: "Were
