BUDDHISM, The religion known as Buddhism, from the title of 'The Buddha' (meaning in Sanskrit the wise, the enlightened). acquired by its founder, has existed now for nearly twenty-five centuries, and is, next to Chris tianity, the most extended religion of the world; hut in this estimate all the Chinese and Japanese are classed as Buddhists. In I lindu,;tan, the land of its birth, it has now little hold, except among some of the northern tribes; but it hears full sway in Ceylon, Nepal, and over the whole lndo Chinese Peninsula. It shares the adherence of the Chinese with the systems of Confucius and Lao-tse, claiming perhaps two-thirds of the popu lation. It prevails also in Japan, although not the established religion; and north of the Hima layas it is the religion of Tibet (where it assumes the form of Lamaism), and of the Mongolian population of Central Asia, and extends to the very north of Siberia, and even into Lapland. Its adherents are estimated at from 100,000,000 to 400,000,000. Yet, until mar the middle of the Nineteenth Century, nothing was known in Eu rope respecting the nature and origin of this world religion, beyond the vaguest notices and conjectures. About the year 1828 Air. B. 11. Hodgson, British Resident at the Court of Nepal, where Buddhism prevails, discovered the exist ence of a large set of writings in Sanskrit lan guage, forming the national canonical books. 'these books have since been found to be texts from which the Buddhist scriptures of Tibet Mongolia. and China must have been translated. The books of the Ceylon Buddhists are in the lan guage called Pali. They are not translations of the Nepalese standards, though they are found to agree with them in some particulars. Most scholars now think that the Pali canon is older and more authoritaitve than the Sanskrit (North ern) canon. Translations from the Ceylon standards are used by the Buddhists of Burma and Siam. Copies of the Sanskrit books of Nepal were sent by Mr. Hodgson to the Asiatic societies of London and Paris. and they engaged the attention of the eminent Oriental scholar Eugene Burnonf (q.v.). who published in 1844 his Introduction to the History of Buddhism; and this book may be said to have been the be ginning of correct information on the subject among the Western nations.
The most diverse opinions had previously pre vailed as to the time and place of the origin of Buddhism. Some looked upon it as a relic of what had been the original religion of Hindu stan, before Brahmanism intruded and drove it out; a relic of a widespread primeval worship, whose ramifications it was endeavored to trace by identifying Buddha with the Woden of the Scandinavians, with the Thoth or Hermes of the ancient Egyptians, and with other mythological personages. Others held that it could not be older than Christianity. and must have originat ed in a blundering attempt to copy that reli gion, so striking are the many points of resem blance that present themselves. Although the means are still wanting of giving a circumstan tial history of Buddhism, the main outline is no longer doubtful. Most Oriental scholars now fix the date of its origin about the middle of the Sixth Century B.C.. and all agree that it arose in the north of Hindustan. According to the Bud dhist hooks, the founder of the religion was a prince of the name of Siddhartha, son of Sud dhodana. the petty raja of Kapilavastu, on the southern border of the District of Nepal. Ile is often called Sakya, which was the name of the family, and also Gautama. The name Sakya often becomes Sakya-muni uni, in Sanskrit, means `solitary'), in allusion to the solitary habits assumed by the prince. To Gautama is frequently prefixed Srumana, meaning ascetic. Of the names, or rather titles, given to Sid dhartha in his state of perfection. the most im portant is the Thu/au," which is from the root budh, to know, and means 'enlightened' or 'he to whom truth is known'; it is indicative of the leading doctrine of his system. Other attributes are 'the blessed' (Bhagavat) ; 'the venerable of the world': 'the Bodhisat,' the import of which will be afterwards explained. The history of this person is overlaid with a mass of extrava gant and incredible legend, and the eminent Orientalist Senart thought it doubtful whether the legendary Buddha was an actual historical personage and not rather an allegorical figment. Rut by Oriental authorities generally the Buddha is received as the actual personal founder of the religion that goes by his name.