Hinduism and Buddhism, Volume 2 | Page 3

to begin with some account of its doctrines and
literature and proceed afterwards to chronology. I may, however, mention that general
tradition connects it with King Kanishka and asserts that the great doctors Asvaghosha
and Nâgârjuna lived in and immediately after his reign. The attitude of Kanishka and of
the Council which he summoned towards the Mahayana is far from clear and I shall say
something about this difficult subject below. Unfortunately his date is not beyond dispute
for while a considerable consensus of opinion fixes his accession at about 78 A.D., some
scholars place it earlier and others in the second century A.D.[4] Apart from this, it
appears established that the Sukhâvatî-vyûha which is definitely Mahayanist was
translated into Chinese between 147 and 186 A.D. We may assume that it was then
already well known and had been composed some time before, so that, whatever
Kanishka's date may have been, Mahayanist doctrines must have been in existence about
the time of the Christian era, and perhaps considerably earlier. Naturally no one date like
a reign or a council can be selected to mark the beginning of a great school. Such a body
of doctrine must have existed piecemeal and unauthorized before it was collected and
recognized and some tenets are older than others. Enlarging I-Ching's definition we may
find in the Mahayana seven lines of thought or practice. All are not found in all sects and
some are shared with the Hinayana but probably none are found fully developed outside
the Mahayana. Many of them have parallels in the contemporary phases of Hinduism.
1. A belief in Bodhisattvas and in the power of human beings to become Bodhisattvas.
2. A code of altruistic ethics which teaches that everyone must do good in the interest of
the whole world and make over to others any merit he may acquire by his virtues. The
aim of the religious life is to become a Bodhisattva, not to become an Arhat.
3. A doctrine that Buddhas are supernatural beings, distributed through infinite space and
time, and innumerable. In the language of later theology a Buddha has three bodies and
still later there is a group of five Buddhas.
4. Various systems of idealist metaphysics, which tend to regard the Buddha essence or
Nirvana much as Brahman is regarded in the Vedanta.
5. A canon composed in Sanskrit and apparently later than the Pali Canon.
6. Habitual worship of images and elaboration of ritual. There is a dangerous tendency to
rely on formulæ and charms.
7. A special doctrine of salvation by faith in a Buddha, usually Amitâbha, and invocation
of his name. Mahayanism can exist without this doctrine but it is tolerated by most sects
and considered essential by some.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Sanskrit, _Mahâyâna_; Chinese, _Ta Ch'êng_ (pronounced _Tai Shêng_ in

many southern provinces); Japanese, _Dai-jo_; Tibetan, _Theg-pa-chen-po_; Mongolian,
_Yäkä-külgän_; Sanskrit, _Hînayâna_; Chinese, _Hsiao-Ch'êng_; Japanese, _Sho-jo_;
Tibetan, _Theg-dman_; Mongolian _Ütsükän-külgän_. In Sanskrit the synonyms
agrayâna and uttama-yâna are also found.]
[Footnote 2: Record of Buddhist practices. Transl. Takakusu, 1896, p. 14. Hsüan Chuang
seems to have thought that acceptance of the Yogâcâryabhûmi (Nanjio, 1170) was
essential for a Mahayanist. See his life, transl. by Beal, p. 39, transl. by Julien, p. 50.]
[Footnote 3: Saddharma-Pundarîka, chap. III. For brevity, I usually cite this work by the
title of The Lotus.]
[Footnote 4: The date 58 B.C. has probably few supporters among scholars now,
especially after Marshall's discoveries.]

CHAPTER XVII
BODHISATTVAS
Let us now consider these doctrines and take first the worship of Bodhisattvas. This word
means one whose essence is knowledge but is used in the technical sense of a being who
is in process of obtaining but has not yet obtained Buddhahood. The Pali Canon shows
little interest in the personality of Bodhisattvas and regards them simply as the
preliminary or larval form of a Buddha, either Sâkyamuni[5] or some of his predecessors.
It was incredible that a being so superior to ordinary humanity as a Buddha should be
suddenly produced in a human family nor could he be regarded as an incarnation in the
strict sense. But it was both logical and edifying to suppose that he was the product of a
long evolution of virtue, of good deeds and noble resolutions extending through countless
ages and culminating in a being superior to the Devas. Such a being awaited in the
Tushita heaven the time fixed for his appearance on earth as a Buddha and his birth was
accompanied by marvels. But though the Pali Canon thus recognizes the Bodhisattva as a
type which, if rare, yet makes its appearance at certain intervals, it leaves the matter there.
It is not suggested that saints should try to become Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, or that
Bodhisattvas can be helpers of mankind.[6] But