DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.635#0046
DOCTRINES OF BUDDHA 33
salvation, Buddha denied the divine authority of the
Vedas, rejected the theory of sacrifice, and declared
that the Eight-fold Path was the way by which all
suffering was annihilated, through right views, right
resolve, right speech, right actions and living, right
effort, right self-knowledge, and right meditation.
To realize the revolution which Buddha effected in
the whole development of Hinduism, it is necessary to
understand something of the tyranny of rites and pen-
ances, with which the priestly class had then enveloped
the spiritual teaching of the people. The original pro-
cess of Vedic sacrifice was based on the theory that
gods and men shared between them the ordering of
the universe, and that the one party was bound to assist
the other. If no rain fell on the earth, it was because
the gods needed refreshment. They were refreshed
with Soma, the nectar of the gods, and with milk
from the earthly cows, which had their counterpart
in the heavenly cattle—the clouds of the sky. The
god Agni—Fire and Light—was brought down to
the earth by the friction of two sticks, and refreshed
with oblations of clarified butter (ghee), which he
licked up with his seven tongues. The gods came
down from heaven to attend the sacrifices, and took
their seats on the place spread with the sacred kusha
grass. The Brahmanas declare that formerly the
gods and men on one side, and the pitris, ances-
tors of men, on the other, sat and feasted there to-
gether. At one time the gods wad.pitris were visible;
they still are present, but invisible. "The gods sub-
sist on what we offer them here below, just as men
subsist on the gifts which come from heaven." As
nourishment for the gods, and as thank-offerings for
salvation, Buddha denied the divine authority of the
Vedas, rejected the theory of sacrifice, and declared
that the Eight-fold Path was the way by which all
suffering was annihilated, through right views, right
resolve, right speech, right actions and living, right
effort, right self-knowledge, and right meditation.
To realize the revolution which Buddha effected in
the whole development of Hinduism, it is necessary to
understand something of the tyranny of rites and pen-
ances, with which the priestly class had then enveloped
the spiritual teaching of the people. The original pro-
cess of Vedic sacrifice was based on the theory that
gods and men shared between them the ordering of
the universe, and that the one party was bound to assist
the other. If no rain fell on the earth, it was because
the gods needed refreshment. They were refreshed
with Soma, the nectar of the gods, and with milk
from the earthly cows, which had their counterpart
in the heavenly cattle—the clouds of the sky. The
god Agni—Fire and Light—was brought down to
the earth by the friction of two sticks, and refreshed
with oblations of clarified butter (ghee), which he
licked up with his seven tongues. The gods came
down from heaven to attend the sacrifices, and took
their seats on the place spread with the sacred kusha
grass. The Brahmanas declare that formerly the
gods and men on one side, and the pitris, ances-
tors of men, on the other, sat and feasted there to-
gether. At one time the gods wad.pitris were visible;
they still are present, but invisible. "The gods sub-
sist on what we offer them here below, just as men
subsist on the gifts which come from heaven." As
nourishment for the gods, and as thank-offerings for