..续本文上一页othing to have prevented two or three of them, in succession to each other, to have covered the whole period between the death of the Buddha and the reign of Asoka, and thus to have enabled the latter to get from his contemporary every desired attestation of the fact of the Buddha”s life. *

　　(8) The "Mahâvansa," the best authenticated ancient history known to us, records the events of Sinhalese history to the reign of King Vijaya, 543 B.C.—almost the time of the Buddha—and gives most particulars of his life, as well as those of Emperor Asoka and all other sovereigns related to Buddhistic history.

　　p. 26

　　105. Q. By what names of respect is the Buddha called

　　A. Sâkyamuni (the Sâkya sage); Sâkya Simha (the Sâkya Lion); Sugata (the Happy One); Satthta (the Teacher); Jina (the Conqueror); Bhagavat (the Blessed One); Lôka-nâtha (the Lord of the world); Sarvajña (the Omniscient One); Dharmarâja (the King of Truth); Tathâgata (the great Being), etc.

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　　Footnotes

　　1:* The word ”religion” is most inappropriate to apply to Buddhism, which is not a religion, but a moral philosophy, as I have shown later on. But by common usage the word has been applied to all groups of people who profess a special moral doctrine, and is so employed by statisticians. The Sinhalese Buddhists have never yet had any conception of what Europeans imply in the etymological construction of the Latin root of this term. In their creed there is no such thing as a ”binding” in the Christian sense—a submission to or merging of self in a Divine Being. A´gama is their vernacular word to express their relation to Buddhism and the Buddha. It is pure Samskrit, and means ”approach, or coming;” and as ”Buddha” is enlightenment, the compound word by which they indicate Buddhism—Buddhâgama—would be properly rendered as ”an approach or coming to enlightenment,” or possibly as a following of the Doctrine of Sakya Muni. The missionaries, finding A´gama ready to their hand, adopted it as the equivalent for ”religion”; and Christianity is written by them Christianiâgama, whereas it should be Christiani bandhana, for bandhana is the etymological equivalent p. 2 for ”religion.” The name Vibhajja váda—one who analyses—is another name given to a Buddhist, and Advayavadi is a third. With this explanation, I continue to employ under protest the familiar word when speaking of Buddhistic philosophy, for the convenience of the ordinary reader.

　　8:* See the definition of deva given later.

　　11:* For an admirable account of this interview consult Dr. Paul Carus” Gospel of Buddha, page 20, et seq.

　　11:† The term Hindu, once a contemptuous term, used by the Musalmâns to designate the people of Sindh, whom they conquered, is now used in an ecclesiastical sense.

　　14:* No reason is given in the canonical books for the choice of this side of the tree, though an explanation is to be found in the popular legends upon which the books of Bishop Bigandet and other European commentators are based. There are always certain influences coming upon us from the different quarters of the sky. Sometimes the influence from one quarter will be best, sometimes that from another quarter. But the Buddha thought that the perfected man is superior to all extraneous influences.

　　16:* The ancient story is that the god Brahma himself implored. him not to withhold the glorious truth.

　　17:* Brahmanism not being offered to non-Hindus, Buddhism is, consequently, the oldest missionary religion in the world. The early missionaries endured every hardship, cruelty and persecution with unfaltering courage.

　　25:* At the Second Council there were two pupils of A´nanda, consequently centenarians, while in Asoka”s Council there were pupils of those pupils.

《Part I· The Life of the Buddha》全文阅读结束。