Chapter XXX: Part 30

_Education._--Budapest is the intellectual capital of Hungary. At the head of its educational institutions stands the university, which was attended in 1900 by 4983 students--only about 2000 in 1880--and has a staff of nearly 200 professors and lecturers. It has been completely transformed into a national Hungarian seat of learning since 1867, and great efforts have been made to keep at home the Hungarian students, who before then frequented other universities and specially that of Vienna. It is well provided with scientific laboratories, botanic garden, and various collections, and possesses a library with nearly a quarter of a million volumes. The university of Budapest, the only one in Hungary proper, was established at Tyrnau in 1635, removed to Buda in 1777, and transferred to Pest in 1783. Next to it comes the polytechnic, attended by 1816 students in 1900, which is also thoroughly equipped for a scientific training. Other high schools are a veterinary academy, a Roman Catholic seminary, a Protestant theological college, a rabbinical institute, a commercial academy, to which has been added in 1899 an academy for the study of oriental languages, and military academies for the training of Hungarian officers. Budapest possesses an adequate number of elementary and secondary schools, as well as a great number of special and technical schools. At the head of the scientific societies stands the academy of sciences, founded in 1825, for the encouragement of the study of the Hungarian language and the various sciences except theology. Next to it comes the national museum, founded in 1807 through the donations of Count Stephan Széchényi, which contains extensive collections of antiquities, natural history and ethnology, and a rich library which, in its manuscript department of over 20,000 MSS., contains the oldest specimens of the Hungarian language. Another society which has done great service for the cultivation of the Hungarian language is the Kisfaludy society, founded in 1836. It began by distributing prizes for the best literary productions of the year, then it started the collection and publication of the Hungarian folklore, and lastly undertook the translation into the Hungarian language of the masterpieces of foreign literatures. The influence exercised by this society is very great, and it has attracted within its circle the best writers of Hungary. Another society similar in aim with this one is the Petöfi society, founded in 1875. Amongst the numerous scientific associations are the central statistical department, and the Budapest communal bureau of statistics, which under the directorship of Dr Joseph de Körösy has gained a European reputation.

The artistic life in Budapest is fostered by the academy of music, which once had Franz Liszt as its director, a _conservatoire_ of music, a dramatic school, and a school for painting and for drawing, all maintained by the government. Budapest possesses, besides an opera house, eight theatres, of which two are subsidized by the government and one by the municipality. The performances are almost exclusively in Hungarian, the exceptions being the occasional appearance of French, Italian and other foreign artists. Performances in German are under a popular taboo, and they are never given in a theatre at Budapest.

_Trade._---In commerce and industry Budapest is by far the most important town in Hungary, and in the former, if not also in the latter, it is second to Vienna alone in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The principal industries are steam flour-milling, distilling, and the manufacture of machinery, railway plant, carriages, cutlery, gold and silver wares, chemicals, bricks, jute, and the usual articles produced in large towns for home consumption. The trade of Budapest is mainly in corn, flour, cattle, horses, pigs, wines, spirits, wool, wood, hides, and in the articles manufactured in the town. The efforts of the Hungarian government to establish a great home industry, and the measures taken to that effect, have benefited Budapest to a greater degree than any other Hungarian town, and the progress made is remarkable. The increase in the number of joint-stock companies, and the capital thus invested in industrial undertakings, furnish a valuable indication. In 1873 there were 28 such companies with a total capital of £2,224,900; in 1890, 75 with a capital of £9,352,000; and in 1899 no fewer than 242 with a total capital of £31,378,655. Budapest owes its great commercial importance to its situation on the Danube, on which the greater part of its trade is carried. The introduction of steamboats on the Danube in 1830 was one of the earliest material causes of the progress of Budapest, and gave a great stimulus to its corn trade. This still continues to operate, having been promoted by the flour-milling industry, which was revolutionized by certain local inventions. Budapest is actually one of the greatest milling centres in the world, possessing a number of magnificent establishments, fitted with machinery invented and manufactured in the city. Budapest is, besides, connected with all the principal places in Austria and Hungary by a well-developed net of railways, which all radiate from here.

_Population._--Few European towns grew so rapidly as Budapest generally, and Pest particularly, during the 19th century, and probably none has witnessed such a thorough transformation since 1867. In 1799 the joint population of Buda and Pest was 54,179, of which 24,306 belonged to Buda, and 29,870 belonged to Pest, being the first time that the population of Pest exceeded that of Buda. By 1840, however, Buda had added but 14,000 to its population while that of Pest had more than doubled; and of the joint population of 270,685 in 1869, fully 200,000 fell to the share of Pest. In 1880 the civil population of Budapest was 360,551, an increase since 1869 of 32%; and in 1890 it was 491,938, and increase of 36.57% in the decade. In the matter of the increase of its population alone, Budapest has only been slightly surpassed by one European town, namely, Berlin. Both capitals multiplied their population by nine in the first nine decades of the century. According to an interesting and instructive comparison of the growth of twenty-eight European cities made by Dr Joseph de Körösy, Berlin in 1890 showed an increase, as compared with the beginning of the century, of 818% and Budapest of 809%. Within the same period the increase of Paris was 343%, and of London 340%. In 1900 the civil population of Budapest was 716,476 inhabitants, showing an increase of 44.82% in the decade. To this must be added a garrison of 15,846 men, making a total population 732,322. Of the total population, civil and military, 578,458 were Magyars, 104,520 were Germans, 25,168 were Slovaks, and the remainder was composed of Croatians, Servians, Rumanians, Russians, Greeks, Armenians, Gypsies, &c. According to religion, there were 445,023 Roman Catholics, 5806 Greek Catholics, 4422 Greek Orthodox; 67,319 were Protestants of the Helvetic, and 38,811 were Protestants of the Augsburg Confessions; 168,985 were Jews, and the remainder belonged to various other creeds. A striking feature in the progress of Budapest is the decline in the death-rate, which sank from 43.4 per thousand in 1874 to 20.6 per thousand in 1900. In addition to the increased influx of [v.04 p.0681] persons in the prime of life, this is due largely to the improved water-supply and better sanitary conditions generally, including increased hospital accommodation.

_Social Position._--Budapest is the seat of the government of Hungary, of the parliament, and of all the highest official authorities--civil, military, judicial and financial. It is the meeting-place, alternately with Vienna, of the Austro-Hungarian delegations, and it was elected to an equality with Vienna as a royal residence in 1892. It is the see of a Roman Catholic archbishop. The town is administered by an elected municipal council, which consists of 400 members. As Paris is sometimes said to be France, so may Budapest with almost greater truth be said to be Hungary. Its composite population is a faithful reflection of the heterogeneous elements in the dominions of the Habsburgs, while the trade and industry of Hungary are centralized at Budapest in a way that can scarcely be affirmed of any other European capital. In virtue of its cultural institutions, it is also the intellectual and artistic centre of Hungary. The movement in favour of Magyarizing all institutions has found its strongest development in Budapest, where the German names have all been removed from the buildings and streets. The wonderful progress of Budapest is undoubtedly due to the revival of the Hungarian national spirit in the first half of the 19th century, and to the energetic and systematic efforts of the government and people of Hungary since the restoration of the constitution. So far as Hungary was concerned, Budapest in 1867 at once became the favoured rival of Vienna, with the important additional advantage that it had no such competitors within its own sphere as Vienna had in the Austrian provincial capitals. The political, intellectual, and social life of Hungary was centred in Budapest, and had largely been so since 1848, when it became the seat of the legislature, as it was that of the Austrian central administration which followed the revolution. The ideal of a prosperous, brilliant and attractive Magyar capital, which would keep the nobles and the intellectual flower of the country at home, uniting them in the service of the Fatherland, had received a powerful impetus from Count Stephan Széchényi, the great Hungarian reformer of the pre-Revolutionary period. His work, continued by patriotic and able successors, was now taken up as the common task of the government and the nation. Thus the promotion of the interests of the capital and the centralization of the public and commercial life of the country have formed an integral part of the policy of the state since the restoration of the constitution. Budapest has profited largely by the encouragement of agriculture, trade and industry, by the nationalization of the railways, by the development of inland navigation, and also by the neglect of similar measures in favour of Vienna.

From that time to the present day the record of the Hungarian capital has been one of uninterrupted advance, not merely in externals, such as the removal of slums, the reconstruction of the town, the development of communications, industry and trade, and the erection of important public buildings, but also in the mental, moral and physical elevation of the inhabitants; besides another important gain from the point of view of the Hungarian statesman, namely, the progressive increase and improvement of status of the Magyar element of the population. When it is remembered that the ideal of both the authorities and the people is the ultimate monopoly of the home market by Hungarian industry and trade, and the strengthening of the Magyar influence by centralization, it is easy to understand the progress of Budapest.

Politically, this ambitious and progressive capital is the creation of the Magyar upper classes. Commercially and industrially, it may be said to be the work of the Jews. The sound judgment of the former led them to welcome and appreciate the co-operation of the latter. Indeed, a readiness to assimilate foreign elements is characteristic of Magyar patriotism, which has, particularly within the last generation, made numerous converts among the other nationalities of Hungary, and--for national purposes--may be considered to have quite absorbed the Hungarian Jews. It has thus come to pass that there is no anti-Semitism in Budapest, although the Hebrew element is proportionately much larger (21% as compared with 9%) than it is in Vienna, the Mecca of the Jew-baiter.

Budapest has long been celebrated for its mineral springs and baths, some of them having been already used during the Roman period. They rise at the foot of the Blocksberg, and are powerful chalybeate and sulphureous hot springs, with a temperature of 80°-150° Fahr. The principal baths are the Bruckbad and the Kaiserbad, both dating from the Turkish period; the St Lucasbad; and the Raitzenbad, rebuilt in 1860, one of the most magnificent establishments of its kind, which was connected through a gallery with the royal palace in the time of Matthias Corvin. There is an artesian well of sulphureous water with a temperature of 153° Fahr. in the Stadtwäldchen; and another, yielding sulphureous water with a temperature of 110° Fahr., which is used for both drinking and bathing, in the Margaret island. The mineral springs, which yield bitter alkaline waters, are situated in the plain south of the Blocksberg, and are over 40 in number. The principal are the Hunyadi-János spring, of which about 1,000,000 bottles are exported annually, the Arpad spring, and the Apenta spring.

The largest and most popular of the parks in Budapest is the Városliget, on the north-east side of the town. It has an area of 286 acres, and contains the zoological garden. On an island in its large pond are situated the agricultural (1902-1904) and the ethnographical museums. It was in this park that the millennium exhibition of 1896 took place. A still more delightful resort is the Margaret island, a long narrow island in the Danube, the property of the archduke Joseph, which has been laid out in the style of an English park, with fine trees, velvety turf and a group of villas and bath-houses. The name of the island is derived from St Margaret, the daughter of King Bela IV. (13th century), who built here a convent, the ruins of which are still in existence. To the west of Buda extends the hill (1463 ft.) of Sváb-Hegy (_Schwabenberg_), with extensive view and numerous villas; it is ascended by a rack-and-pinion railway. A favourite spot is the Zugliget (_Auwinkel_), a wooded dale on the northern slope of the hill. To the north of Ó-Buda, about 4 m. from the Margaret island, on the right bank of the Danube, are the remains of the Roman colony of Aquincum. They include the foundations of an amphitheatre, of a temple, of an aqueduct, of baths and of a castrum. The objects found here are preserved in a small museum. To the north of Pest lies the historic Rákos field, where the Hungarian diets were held in the open air from the 10th to the 14th century; and 23 m. to the north lies the royal castle of Gödöllö, with its beautiful park.

_History._--The history of Budapest consists of the separate history of the two sister towns, Buda and Pest. The Romans founded, in the 2nd century A.D., on the right bank of the Danube, on the site of the actual Ó-Buda, a colony, on the place of a former Celtic settlement. This colony was named Aquincum, a transformation from the former Celtic name of _Ak-ink_, meaning "rich waters." The Roman occupation lasted till A.D. 376, and then the place was invaded by Huns, Ostrogoths, and later by Avars and Slavs. When the Magyars came into the country, at the end of the 10th century, they preserved the names of Buda and Pest, which they found for these two places. The origin of Pest proper is obscure, but the name, apparently derived from the old Slavonic _pestj_, a stove (like Ofen, the German name of Buda), seems to point to an early Slavonic settlement. The Romans never gained a foothold on this side of the river.

When it first appears in history Pest was essentially a German settlement, and a chronicler of the 13th century describes it as "Villa Teutonica ditissima." Christianity was introduced early in the 11th century. In 1241 Pest was destroyed by the Tatars, after whose departure in 1244 it was created a royal free city by Bela IV., and repeopled with colonists of various nationalities. The succeeding period seems to have been one of considerable prosperity, though Pest was completely eclipsed by the sister town of Buda with its fortress and palace. This fortress and palace were built by King Bela IV. in 1247, and were the nucleus round which the town of Buda was built, which soon gained [v.04 p.0682] great importance, and became in 1361 the capital of Hungary. In 1526 Pest was taken and pillaged by the Turks, and from 1541 to 1686 Buda was the seat of a Turkish pasha. Pest in the meantime entirely lost its importance, and on the departure of the Turks was left little more than a heap of ruins. Its favourable situation and the renewal of former privileges helped it to revive, and in 1723 it became the seat of the highest Hungarian officials. Maria Theresa and Joseph II. did much to increase its importance, but the rapid growth which enabled it completely to outstrip Buda belongs entirely to the 19th century. A signal proof of its vitality was given in 1838 by the speed and ease with which it recovered from a disastrous inundation that destroyed 3000 houses. In 1848 Pest became the seat of the revolutionary diet, but in the following year the insurgents had to retire before the Austrians under Windischgrätz. A little later the Austrians had to retire in their turn, leaving a garrison in the fortress of Buda, and, while the Hungarians endeavoured to capture this position, General Hentzi retaliated by bombarding Pest, doing great damage to the town. In 1872 both towns were united into one municipality. In 1896 took place here the millennium exhibition, in celebration of the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the kingdom of Hungary.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The official publications of the Budapest Communal Bureau of Statistics have acquired a European repute for their completeness, and their fearless exposure of shortcomings has been an element in the progress of the town. Reference should also be made to separate works of the director of that institution, Dr Joseph de Körösy, known in England for his discovery of the law of marital fertility, published by the Royal Society, and by his labours in the development of comparative international statistics. His _Statistique Internationale des grandes villes_ and _Bulletin annuel des finances des grandes villes_ give valuable comparative data. See also _Die Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild_ (Wien, 1886-1902, 24 vols.); volume xii., published in 1893, is devoted to Budapest.

(O. BR.)

BUDAUN, a town and district of British India, in the Rohilkhand division of the United Provinces. The town is near the left bank of the river Sot. Pop. (1901) 39,031. There are ruins of an immense fort and a very handsome mosque of imposing size, crowned with a dome, and built in 1223 in great part from the materials of an ancient Hindu temple. The American Methodist mission maintains several girls' schools, and there is a high school for boys. According to tradition Budaun was founded about A.D. 905, and an inscription, probably of the 12th century, gives a list of twelve Rathor kings reigning at Budaun (called Vodamayuta). The first authentic historical event connected with it, however, is its capture by Kutb-ud-din in 1196, after which it became a very important post on the northern frontier of the Delhi empire. In the 13th century two of its governors, Shams-ud-din Altamsh, the builder of the great mosque referred to above, and his son Rukn-ud-din Firoz, attained the imperial throne. In 1571 the town was burnt, and about a hundred years later, under Shah Jahan, the seat of the governorship was transferred to Bareilly; after which the importance of Budaun declined. It ultimately came into the power of the Rohillas, and in 1838 was made the headquarters of a British district. In 1857 the people of Budaun sided with the mutineers, and a native government was set up, which lasted until General Penny's victory at Kakrala (April 1858) led to the restoration of British authority.

The DISTRICT OF BUDAUN has an area of 1987 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 1,025,753. The country is low, level, and is generally fertile, and watered by the Ganges, the Ramganga, the Sot or Yarwafadar, and the Mahawa. Budaun district was ceded to the British government in 1801 by the nawab of Oudh. There are several indigo factories. The district is crossed by two lines of the Oudh & Rohilkhand railway, and by a narrow-gauge line from Bareilly. The chief centre of trade is Bilsi.

BUDDEUS, JOHANN FRANZ (1667-1729), German Lutheran divine, was born at Anklam, a town of Pomerania, where his father was pastor. He studied with great distinction at Greifswald and at Wittenberg, and having made a special study of languages, theology and history, was appointed professor of Greek and Latin at Coburg in 1692, professor of moral philosophy in the university of Halle in 1693, and in 1705 professor of theology at Jena. Here he was held in high esteem, and in 1715 became Primarius of his faculty and member of the Consistory. His principal works are: _Leipzig, allgemeines historisches Lexikon_ (Leipzig, 1709 ff.); _Historia, Ecclesiastica Veteris Testamenti_ (4 vols., Halle, 1709); _Elementa Philosophiae Practicae, Instrumentalis, et Theoreticae_ (3 vols., 1697); _Selecta Juris Naturae et Gentium_ (Halle, 1704); _Miscellanea Sacra_ (3 vols., Jena, 1727); and _Isagoge Historico-Theologica ad Theologiam Universam, singulasque ejus partes_ (2 vols., 1727).

BUDDHA. According to the Buddhist theory (see BUDDHISM), a "Buddha" appears from time to time in the world and preaches the true doctrine. After a certain lapse of time this teaching is corrupted and lost, and is not restored till a new Buddha appears. In Europe, Buddha is used to designate the last historical Buddha, whose family name was Gotama, and who was the son of Suddh[=o]dana, one of the chiefs of the tribe of the S[=a]kiyas, one of the republican clans then still existent in India.

We are accustomed to find the legendary and the miraculous gathering, like a halo, around the early history of religious leaders, until the sober truth runs the risk of being altogether neglected for the glittering and edifying falsehood. The Buddha has not escaped the fate which has befallen the founders of other religions; and as late as the year 1854 Professor Wilson of Oxford read a paper before the Royal Asiatic Society of London in which he maintained that the supposed life of Buddha was a myth, and "Buddha himself merely an imaginary being." No one, however, would now support this view; and it is admitted that, under the mass of miraculous tales which have been handed down regarding him, there is a basis of truth already sufficiently clear to render possible an intelligent history.

The circumstances under which the future Buddha was born were somewhat as follows.[1] In the 6th century B.C. the [=A]ryan tribes had long been settled far down the valley of the Ganges. The old child-like joy in life so manifest in the Vedas had died away; the worship of nature had developed or degenerated into the worship of new and less pure divinities; and the Vedic songs themselves, whose freedom was little compatible with the spirit of the age, had faded into an obscurity which did not lessen their value to the priests. The country was politically split up into little principalities, most of them governed by some petty despot, whose interests were not often the same as those of the community. There were still, however, about a dozen free republics, most of them with aristocratic government, and it was in these that reforming movements met with most approval and support. A convenient belief in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls satisfied the unfortunate that their woes were the natural result of their own deeds in a former birth, and, though unavoidable now, might be escaped in a future state of existence by present good conduct. While hoping for a better fate in their next birth, the poor turned for succour and advice in this to the aid of astrology, witchcraft and animism--a belief in which seems to underlie all [v.04 p.0683] religions, and still survives even in England.[2] The inspiriting wars against the enemies of the [=A]ryan people, the infidel deniers of the [=A]ryan gods, had given place to a succession of internecine feuds between the chiefs of neighbouring clans. In literature an age of poets had long since made way for an age of commentators and grammarians, who thought that the old poems must have been the work of gods. But the darkest period was succeeded by the dawn of a reformation; travelling logicians were willing to maintain these against all the world; whilst here and there ascetics strove to raise themselves above the gods, and hermits earnestly sought for some satisfactory solution of the mysteries of life. These were the teachers whom the people chiefly delighted to honour. Though the ranks of the priesthood were for ever firmly closed against intruders, a man of lay birth, a Kshatriya or Vaisya, whose mind revolted against the orthodox creed, and whose heart was stirred by mingled zeal and ambition, might find through these irregular orders an entrance to the career of a religious teacher and reformer.

The S[=a]kiya clan was then seated in a tract of country probably two or three thousand square miles in extent, the chief town of which was Kapilavastu, situate about 27° 37' N. by 83° 11' E., some days' journey north of Benares. Their territory stretched up into the lower slopes of the mountains, and was mostly in what is now Nepal, but it included territory now on the British side of the frontier. It is in this part of the S[=a]kiya country that the interesting discovery was made of the monument they erected to their famous clansman. From their well-watered rice-fields, the main source of their wealth, they could see the giant Him[=a]layas looming up against the clear blue of the Indian sky. Their supplies of water were drawn from the river Rohini, the modern Koh[=a]na; and though the use of the river was in times of drought the cause of disputes between the S[=a]kiyas and the neighbouring Koliyans, the two clans were then at peace; and two daughters of a chieftain of Koli, which was only 11 m. east of Kapilavastu, were the principal wives of Suddh[=o]dana. Both were childless, and great was the rejoicing when, in about the forty-fifth year of her age, the elder sister, Mah[=a] M[=a]y[=a], promised her husband a son. In due time she started with the intention of being confined at her parents' home, but the party halting on the way under the shade of some lofty satin-trees, in a pleasant garden called Lumbini on the river-side, her son, the future Buddha, was there unexpectedly born. The exact site of this garden has been recently rediscovered, marked by an inscribed pillar put up by Asoka (see _J.R.A.S._, 1898).

He was in after years more generally known by his family name of Gotama, but his individual name was Siddhattha. When he was nineteen years old he was married to his cousin Yasodhar[=a], daughter of a Koliyan chief, and gave himself up to a life of luxury. This is the solitary record of his youth; we hear nothing more till, in his twenty-ninth year, it is related that, driving to his pleasure-grounds one day, he was struck by the sight of a man utterly broken down by age, on another occasion by the sight of a man suffering from a loathsome disease, and some months after by the horrible sight of a decomposing corpse. Each time his charioteer, whose name was Channa, told him that such was the fate of all living beings. Soon after he saw an ascetic walking in a calm and dignified manner, and asking who that was, was told by his charioteer the character and aims of the Wanderers, the travelling teachers, who played so great a part in the intellectual life of the time. The different accounts of these visions vary so much as to cast great doubts on their accuracy; and the oldest one of all (_Anguttara_, i. 145) speaks of ideas only, not of actual visions. It is, however, clear from what follows, that about this time the mind of the young Räjput must, from some cause or other, have been deeply stirred. Many an earnest heart full of disappointment or enthusiasm has gone through a similar struggle, has learnt to look upon all earthly gains and hopes as worse than vanity, has envied the calm life of the cloister, troubled by none of these things, and has longed for an opportunity of entire self-surrender to abstinence and meditation.

Subjectively, though not objectively, these visions may be supposed to have appeared to Gotama. After seeing the last of them, he is said, in the later accounts, to have spent the afternoon in his pleasure-grounds by the river-side; and having bathed, to have entered his chariot in order to return home. Just then a messenger arrived with the news that his wife Yasodhara had given birth to a son, his only child. "This," said Gotama quietly, "is a new and strong tie I shall have to break." But the people of Kapilavastu were greatly delighted at the birth of the young heir, the raja's only grandson. Gotama's return became an ovation; musicians preceded and followed his chariot, while shouts of joy and triumph fell on his ear. Among these sounds one especially attracted his attention. It was the voice of a young girl, his cousin, who sang a stanza, saying, "Happy the father, happy the mother, happy the wife of such a son and husband." In the word "happy" lay a double meaning; it meant also freed from the chains of rebirth, delivered, _saved_. Grateful to one who, at such a time, reminded him of his highest hopes, Gotama, to whom such things had no longer any value, took off his collar of pearls and sent it to her. She imagined that this was the beginning of a courtship, and began to build daydreams about becoming his principal wife, but he took no further notice of her and passed on. That evening the dancing-girls came to go through the Natch dances, then as now so common on festive occasions in many parts of India; but he paid them no attention, and gradually fell into an uneasy slumber. At midnight he awoke; the dancing-girls were lying in the ante-room; an overpowering loathing filled his soul. He arose instantly with a mind fully made up--"roused into activity," says the Sinhalese chronicle, "like a man who is told that his house is on fire." He called out to know who was on guard, and finding it was his charioteer Channa, he told him to saddle his horse. While Channa was gone Siddhattha gently opened the door of the room where Yasodhara was sleeping, surrounded by flowers, with one hand on the head of their child. He had hoped to take the babe in his arms for the last time before he went, but now he stood for a few moments irresolute on the threshold looking at them. At last the fear of awakening Yasodhara prevailed; he tore himself away, promising himself to return to them as soon as his mind had become clear, as soon as he had become a Buddha,--_i.e._ Enlightened,--and then he could return to them not only as husband and father, but as teacher and saviour. It is said to have been broad moonlight on the full moon of the month of July, when the young chief, with Channa as his sole companion, leaving his father's home, his wealth and social position, his wife and child behind him, went out into the wilderness to become a penniless and despised student, and a homeless wanderer. This is the circumstance which has given its name to a Sanskrit work, the Mahabhinishkramana Sutra, or Sutra of the Great Renunciation.

Next is related an event in which we may again see a subjective experience given under the form of an objective reality. Mara, the great tempter, appears in the sky, and urges Gotama to stop, promising him, in seven days, a universal kingdom over the four great continents if he will but give up his enterprise.[3] When his words fail to have any effect, the tempter consoles himself by the confident hope that he will still overcome his enemy, saying, "Sooner or later some lustful or malicious or angry thought must arise in his mind; in that moment I shall be his master"; and from that hour, adds the legend, "as a shadow always follows the body, so he too from that day always followed the Blessed One, striving to throw every obstacle in his way towards the Buddhahood." Gotama rides a long distance that night, only stopping at the banks of the Anoma beyond the Koliyan territory. There, on the sandy bank of the river, at a spot where later piety erected a dagaba (a solid dome-shaped relic shrine), he cuts off with his sword his long flowing locks, and, taking off his ornaments, sends them and the horse back in charge of the unwilling Channa to Kapilavastu. The next seven days were spent alone in a grove of mango trees [v.04 p.0684] near by, whence the recluse walks on to Rajagriha, the capital of Magadha, and residence of Bimbisara, one of the then most powerful rulers in the valley of the Ganges. He was favourably received by the raja; but though asked to do so, he would not as yet assume the responsibilities of a teacher. He attached himself first to a brahmin sophist named Alara, and afterwards to another named Udraka, from whom he learnt all that Indian philosophy had then to teach. Still unsatisfied, he next retired to the jungle of Uruvela, on the most northerly spur of the Vindhya range of mountains, and there for six years, attended by five faithful disciples, he gave himself up to the severest penance and self-torture, till his fame as an ascetic spread in all the country round about "like the sound," says the Burmese chronicle, "of a great bell hung in the canopy of the skies."[4] At last one day, when he was walking in a much enfeebled state, he felt on a sudden an extreme weakness, like that caused by dire starvation, and unable to stand any longer he fell to the ground. Some thought he was dead, but he recovered, and from that time took regular food and gave up his severe penance, so much so that his five disciples soon ceased to respect him, and leaving him went to Benares.

There now ensued a second struggle in Gotama's mind, described with all the wealth of poetry and imagination of which the Indian mind is master. The crisis culminated on a day, each event of which is surrounded in the Buddhist accounts with the wildest legends, on which the very thoughts passing through the mind of Buddha appear in gorgeous descriptions as angels of darkness or of light. To us, now taught by the experiences of centuries how weak such exaggerations are compared with the effect of a plain unvarnished tale, these legends may appear childish or absurd, but they have a depth of meaning to those who strive to read between the lines of such rude and inarticulate attempts to describe the indescribable. That which (the previous and subsequent career of the teacher being borne in mind) seems to be possible and even probable, appears to be somewhat as follows.

Disenchanted and dissatisfied, Gotama had given up all that most men value, to seek peace in secluded study and self-denial. Failing to attain his object by learning the wisdom of others, and living the simple life of a student, he had devoted himself to that intense meditation and penance which all philosophers then said would raise men above the gods. Still unsatisfied, longing always for a certainty that seemed ever just beyond his grasp, he had added vigil to vigil, and penance to penance, until at last, when to the wondering view of others he had become more than a saint, his bodily strength and his indomitable resolution and faith had together suddenly and completely broken down. Then, when the sympathy of others would have been most welcome, he found his friends falling away from him, and his disciples leaving him for other teachers. Soon after, if not on the very day when his followers had left him, he wandered out towards the banks of the Neranjara, receiving his morning meal from the hands of Sujata, the daughter of a neighbouring villager, and set himself down to eat it under the shade of a large tree (a _Ficus religiosa_), to be known from that time as the sacred Bo tree or tree of wisdom. There he remained through the long hours of that day debating with himself what next to do. All his old temptations came back upon him with renewed force. For years he had looked at all earthly good through the medium of a philosophy which taught him that it, without exception, contained within itself the seeds of bitterness, and was altogether worthless and impermanent; but now to his wavering faith the sweet delights of home and love, the charms of wealth and power, began to show themselves in a different light, and glow again with attractive colours. He doubted, and agonized in his doubt; but as the sun set, the religious side of his nature had won the victory, and seems to have come out even purified from the struggle. He had attained to Nirvana, had become clear in his mind, a Buddha, an Enlightened One. From that night he not only did not claim any merit on account of his self-mortification, but took every opportunity of declaring that from such penances no advantage at all would be derived. All that night he is said to have remained in deep meditation under the Bo tree; and the orthodox Buddhists believe that for seven times seven nights and days he continued fasting near the spot, when the archangel Brahm[=a] came and ministered to him. As for himself, his heart was now fixed,--his mind was made up,--but he realized more than he had ever done before the power of temptation, and the difficulty, the almost impossibility, of understanding and holding to the truth. For others subject to the same temptations, but without that earnestness and insight which he felt himself to possess, faith might be quite impossible, and it would only be waste of time and trouble to try to show to them "the only path of peace." To one in his position this thought would be so very natural, that we need not hesitate to accept the fact of its occurrence as related in the oldest records. It is quite consistent with his whole career that it was love and pity for others--otherwise, as it seemed to him, helplessly doomed and lost---which at last overcame every other consideration, and made Gotama resolve to announce his doctrine to the world.

The teacher, now 35 years of age, intended to proclaim his new gospel first to his old teachers [=A]l[=a]ra and Udraka, but finding that they were dead, he determined to address himself to his former five disciples, and accordingly went to the Deer-forest near Benares where they were then living. An old _g[=a]thh[=a]_, or hymn (translated in _Vinaya Texts_, i. 90) tells us how the Buddha, rapt with the idea of his great mission, meets an acquaintance, one Upaka, a wandering sophist, on the way. The latter, struck with his expression, asks him whose religion it is that makes him so glad, and yet so calm. The reply is striking. "I am now on my way," says the Buddha, "to the city of Benares, to beat the drum of the Ambrosia (to set up the light of the doctrine of Nirvana) in the darkness of the world!" and he proclaims himself the Buddha who alone knows, and knows no teacher. Upaka says: "You profess yourself, then, friend, to be an Arahat and a conqueror?" The Buddha says: "Those indeed are conquerors who, as I have now, have conquered the intoxications (the mental intoxication arising from ignorance, sensuality or craving after future life). Evil dispositions have ceased in me; therefore is it that I am conqueror!" His acquaintance rejoins: "In that case, venerable Gotama, your way lies yonder!" and he himself, shaking his head, turns in the opposite direction.

Nothing daunted, the new prophet walked on to Benares, and in the cool of the evening went on to the Deer-forest where the five ascetics were living. Seeing him coming, they resolved not to recognize as a superior one who had broken his vows; to address him by his name, and not as "master" or "teacher"; only, he being a Kshatriya, to offer him a seat. He understands their change of manner, calmly tells them not to mock him by calling him "the venerable Gotama"; that he has found the ambrosia of truth and can lead them to it. They object, naturally enough, from the ascetic point of view, that he had failed before while he was keeping his body under, and how can his mind have won the victory now, when he serves and yields to his body. Buddha replies by explaining to them the principles of his new gospel, in the form of noble truths, and the Noble Eightfold Path (see BUDDHISM).

It is nearly certain that Buddha had a commanding presence, and one of those deep, rich, thrilling voices which so many of the successful leaders of men have possessed. We know his deep earnestness, and his thorough conviction of the truth of his new gospel. When we further remember the relation which the five students mentioned above had long borne to him, and that they had passed through a similar culture, it is not difficult to understand that his persuasions were successful, and that his old disciples were the first to acknowledge him in his new character. The later books say that they were all converted at once; but, according to the most ancient P[=a]li record--though their old love and reverence had been so rekindled when the Buddha came near that their cold resolutions quite broke down, and they vied with each other in such acts of personal attention as an [v.04 p.0685] Indian disciple loves to pay to his teacher,--yet it was only after the Buddha had for five days talked to them, sometimes separately, sometimes together, that they accepted in its entirety his plan of salvation.[5]

The Buddha then remained at the Deer-forest near Benares until the number of his personal followers was about threescore, and that of the outside believers somewhat greater. The principal among the former was a rich young man named Yasa, who had first come to him at night out of fear of his relations, and afterwards shaved his head, put on the yellow robe, and succeeded in bringing many of his former friends and companions to the teacher, his mother and his wife being the first female disciples, and his father the first lay devotee. It should be noticed in passing that the idea of a priesthood with mystical powers is altogether repugnant to Buddhism; every one's salvation is entirely dependent on the modification or growth of his own inner nature, resulting from his own exertions. The life of a recluse is held to be the most conducive to that state of sweet serenity at which the most ardent disciples aim; but that of a layman, of a believing householder, is held in high honour; and a believer who does not as yet feel himself able or willing to cast off the ties of home or of business, may yet "enter the paths," and by a life of rectitude and kindness ensure for himself a rebirth under more favourable conditions for his growth in holiness.

After the rainy season Gotama called together those of his disciples who had devoted themselves to the higher life, and said to them: "I am free from the five hindrances which, like an immense net, hold men and angels in their power; you too (owing to my teaching) are set free. Go ye now, brethren, and wander for the gain and welfare of the many, out of compassion for the world, to the benefit of gods and men. Preach the doctrine, beauteous in inception, beauteous in continuation, beauteous in its end. Proclaim the pure and perfect life. Let no two go together. I also go, brethren, to the General's village in the wilds of Uruvel[=a]."[6] Throughout his career, Gotama yearly adopted the same plan, collecting his disciples round him in the rainy season, and after it was over travelling about as an itinerant preacher; but in subsequent years he was always accompanied by some of his most attached disciples.

In the solitudes of Uruvel[=a] there were at this time three brothers, fire-worshippers and hermit philosophers, who had gathered round them a number of scholars, and enjoyed a considerable reputation as teachers. Gotama settled among them, and after a time they became believers in his system,--the elder brother, Kassapa, taking henceforth a principal place among his followers. His first set sermon to his new disciples is called by Bishop Bigandet the Sermon on the Mount. Its subject was a jungle-fire which broke out on the opposite hillside. He warned his hearers against the fires of concupiscence, anger, ignorance, birth, death, decay and anxiety; and taking each of the senses in order he compared all human sensations to a burning flame which seems to be something it is not, which produces pleasure and pain, but passes rapidly away, and ends only in destruction.[7]

Accompanied by his new disciples, the Buddha walked on to R[=a]jagaha, the capital of King Bimbis[=a]ra, who, not unmindful of their former interview, came out to welcome him. Seeing Kassapa, who as the chronicle puts it, was as well known to them as the banner of the city, the people at first doubted who was the teacher and who the disciple, but Kassapa put an end to their hesitation by stating that he had now given up his belief in the efficacy of sacrifices either great or small; that Nirv[=a]na was a state of rest to be attained only by a change of heart; and that he had become a disciple of the Buddha. Gotama then spoke to the king on the miseries of the world which arise from passion, and on the possibility of release by following the way of salvation. The r[=a]ja invited him and his disciples to eat their simple mid-day meal at his house on the following morning; and then presented the Buddha with a garden called Veluvana or Bamboo-grove, afterwards celebrated as the place where the Buddha spent many rainy seasons, and preached many of his most complete discourses. There he taught for some time, attracting large numbers of hearers, among whom two, S[=a]riputta and Moggall[=a]na, who afterwards became conspicuous leaders in the new crusade, then joined the Sangha or Society, as the Buddha's order of mendicants was called.

Meanwhile the prophet's father, Suddh[=o]dana, who had anxiously watched his son's career, heard that he had given up his asceticism, and had appeared as a Wanderer, an itinerant preacher and teacher. He sent therefore to him, urging him to come home, that he might see him once more before he died. The Buddha accordingly started for Kapilavastu, and stopped according to his custom in a grove outside the town. His father and uncles and others came to see him there, but the latter were angry, and would pay him no reverence. It was the custom to invite such teachers and their disciples for the next day's meal, but they all left without doing so. The next day, therefore, Gotama set out at the usual hour, carrying his bowl to beg for a meal. As he entered the city, he hesitated whether he should not go straight to his father's house, but determined to adhere to his custom. It soon reached his father's ears that his son was walking through the streets begging. Startled at such news he rose up, seizing the end of his outer robe, and hastened to the place where Gotama was, exclaiming, "Illustrious Buddha, why do you expose us all to such shame? Is it necessary to go from door to door begging your food? Do you imagine that I am not able to supply the wants of so many mendicants?" "My noble father," was the reply, "this is the custom of all our race." "How so?" said his father. "Are you not descended from an illustrious line? no single person of our race has ever acted so indecorously." "My noble father," said Gotama, "you and your family may claim the privileges of Kshatriya descent; my descent is from the prophets (Buddhas) of old, and they have always acted so; the customs of the law (Dharma) are good both for this world and the world that is to come. But, my father, when a man has found a treasure, it is his duty to offer the most precious of the jewels to his father first. Do not delay, let me share with you the treasure I have found." Suddh[=o]dana, abashed, took his son's bowl and led him to his house.

Eighteen months had now elapsed since the turning-point of Gotama's career--his great struggle under the Bo tree. Thus far all the accounts follow chronological order. From this time they simply narrate disconnected stories about the Buddha, or the persons with whom he was brought into contact,--the same story being usually found in more than one account, but not often in the same order. It is not as yet possible, except very partially, to arrange chronologically the snatches of biography to be gleaned from these stories. They are mostly told to show the occasion on which some memorable act of the Buddha took place, or some memorable saying was uttered, and are as exact as to place as they are indistinct as to time. It would be impossible within the limits of this article to give any large number of them, but space may be found for one or two.

A merchant from S[=u]naparanta having joined the Society was desirous of preaching to his relations, and is said to have asked Gotama's permission to do so. "The people of S[=u]naparanta," said the teacher, "are exceedingly violent. If they revile you what will you do?" "I will make no reply," said the mendicant. "And if they strike you?" "I will not strike in return," was the reply. "And if they try to kill you?" "Death is no evil in itself; many even desire it, to escape from the vanities of life, but I shall take no steps either to hasten or to delay the time of my departure." These answers were held satisfactory, and the monk started on his mission.

At another time a rich farmer held a harvest home, and the Buddha, wishing to preach to him, is said to have taken his alms-bowl and stood by the side of the field and begged. The farmer, a wealthy br[=a]hmin, said to him, "Why do you come and beg? [v.04 p.0686] I plough and sow and earn my food; you should do the same." "I too, O brahmin," said the beggar, "plough and sow; and having ploughed and sown I eat." "You profess only to be a farmer; no one sees your ploughing, what do you mean?" said the brahmin. "For my cultivation," said the beggar, "faith is the seed, self-combat is the fertilizing rain, the weeds I destroy are the cleaving to existence, wisdom is my plough, and its guiding-shaft is modesty; perseverance draws my plough, and I guide it with the rein of my mind; the field I work is in the law, and the harvest that I reap is the never-dying nectar of Nirv[=a]na, Those who reap this harvest destroy all the weeds of sorrow."