Buddhism in India

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from th e m ain body of B uddhism . Subdivided into num er

ous schools, its chief characteristic was th e doctrine th a t th e
things of th e phenom enal world were n o t wholly real; th u s
it paved th e way for th e idealist world-view of M ahayana
philosophy. B uddhas, on th e o th e r h an d , according to th e
fully developed do ctrine of th e M ahasahghikas, had full
reality, as heavenly beings in a state of perpetual mystic
trance, an d earthly B uddhas such as th e historical G autam a
were m ere docetic m anifestations of th e Buddhas in th eir
tru e state. I t is possible th a t gnostic doctrines from th e
M iddle E ast influenced this form of B uddhism , w hich cam e
very close to M ahayanism , diflEering only in th e doctrine of
bodhisattvas.
B uddhism also ta u g h t an advanced an d altruistic system
of m orality, w hich was a corollary to its m etaphysics, since
one of th e first steps on th e road to N irvana was to do good
to others, an d thereby w eaken th e illusion o f egoity w hich
was th e m ain cause of hum an sorrow. Buddhism set itself
strongly against anim al sacrifice an d encouraged vegetarian
ism , though it did n o t definitely im pose it. I t tended towards
peace, even if A shokas successors did n o t heed his injunc
tions to avoid aggression. Its a ttitu d e to th e system o f class
an d caste is n o t always definite; w hile passages in th e B ud
d h ist scriptures can be found w hich attack all claims to
superiority by right of b irth , th e four great classes seem to
have been recognized as an alm ost inevitable aspect of In
dian society; b u t th e B uddhist classification o f these classes
varies significantly from th a t of th e H indus, for in B uddhist
sources th e w arrior is usually m en tio n ed before th e brahm an.
T h e total literature of B uddhism is so large th a t it is q uite
im possible for a single individual to m aster it in his lifetim e.
E ach of th e num erous sects of B uddhism had its version of
th e sacred scriptures w ritten eith er in a semi-vernacular
Prakritic language or in a form of Sanskrit w ith peculiar
syntax an d vocabulary, generally know n as B uddhist San
skrit. Besides these th e re was a great body of com m entarial
literature, an d m uch philosophical and devotional w riting of
all kinds. M uch o f th e literature of th e sects o th e r th a n th e
T h eravada has been lost, or only survives in C hinese or
T ib e ta n translations, b u t th e com plete canon of T heravada
B uddhism has been fully preserved in Ceylon. I t is therefore