that he invented the whole formula from beginning to end. But it is to be observed that the formula repeats itself, that the human being is brought into existence twice -the first time under the name of consciousness and name and form and by means of ignorance and karma, the second time in birth and by means of desire (with its four branches called attachments) and karma again, this time called existence.1 Therefore, though Buddhaghosa is at great pains to explain this repetition as purposely intended for practical ends, yet one is much inclined to surmise that the full formula in its present shape is a piece of patchwork put together of two or more that were current in the Buddha's time and by him-perhaps expanded, perhaps contracted, but at any rate made into one. If the Buddha added to the formula of Dependent Origination, it would appear that the addition consisted in the first two propositions. For ignorance, of course, is the opposite of wisdom, and wisdom is the method for getting rid of ignorance."—Buddhism in Translations, p. 115.

Whatever may have been the original wording, the traditional formula of the causation of evil has been, without change, faithfully preserved in the triumphal progress of Buddhism from India to Japan. One of the oldest passages of the twelve nidânas is found. in the Questions of King Milinda, p. 79, where we read:

"By reason of ignorance came the Confections, by reason of the Confections consciousness, by reason of consciousness name-and-form, by reason of name-andform the six organs of sense, by reason of them contact, by reason of contact sensation, by reason of sensation thirst, by reason of thirst craving, by reason of craving becoming, by reason of becoming birth, by reason of birth old age and death, grief, lamentation, sorrow, pain, and despair. Thus is it that the ultimate point in the past of all this time is not apparent."-Translated by T. W. Rhys Davids in Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXXV.

The Samyutta Nikâya replaces the second nidâna "confections" by "karma," i. e., action. The passage reads:

The Visudhi Magga declares karma-existence is equivalent to existence.

"On existence depends birth;

"On birth depend old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and despair. Thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise.

"But on the complete fading out and cessation of ignorance ceases karma;

"On the cessation of karma ceases consciousness;

"On the cessation of consciousness ceases name and form;

"On the cessation of name and form cease the six organs of sense:
"On the cessation of the six organs of sense ceases contact;

"On the cessation of contact ceases sensation;

"On the cessation of sensation ceases desire;

"On the cessation of desire ceases attachment;

"On the cessation of attachment ceases existence;

"On the cessation of existence ceases birth;

"On the cessation of birth cease old age and death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief and despair. Thus does this entire aggregation of misery cease."-Buddhism in Translations, Warren, p. 166.

The Pâli terms are: (1) avijja (ignorance), (2) sankhâra (organised formation) or kamma (Karma), (3) viññana (sentiency), (4) nama-rupa (name and form, i. e., individuality), (5) salâyatana (the six fields, i. e., the five senses and mind), (6) phasso (contact), (7) vedana (sensation), (8) tanha (thirst), (9) upâdâna (craving), (10) bhava (growth), (11) jâti (birth), (12) jarâmarana, etc. (old age, death, sorrow, etc.).

one.

It seems that we have three chains of causation combined into One chain explains that Karma, i. e., deed or activity, produces first viññana (sentiency), and then nama-rupa (name and form, or personality); the other begins with sensation, as known in the six senses or salâyatana, which by contact (phasso) produces first consciousness (védana) and then thirst (tanha). The third group, which may be the peculiarly Buddhistic addition to the two older formulas, is founded in the first, or first and second, and the four concluding links of the traditional chain, stating that ignorance (avijja) produces blindly in its random work organisations (sankharas). These sankhâras or elementary organisms are possessed of craving (upâdâna), which leads to conception (bhava) and birth (jati), thus producing old age, death, sorrow, and misery of any

kind.

THE WHEEL OF LIFE.

Judging from a communication of Caroline A. Foley (in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1894, p. 389), the allegory of

AN INDIAN WHEEL OF LIFE.
Preserved in the Cave Temples of Ajanta, Central India.
(Reproduced from L. E. Waddell's picture in the J. R. A. S.)

the world wheel, the wheel of life, must be much older than is commonly thought, for it is mentioned already in the Divyavadâna, pp. 299-300. Caroline Foley says:

"There it is related how Buddha instructed Ananda to make a wheel (cakram karayitavyam) for the purpose of illustrating what another disciple, Maudgalyâ

yana, saw when he visited other spheres, which it seems he was in the habit of doing. The wheel was to have five spokes (pancagandakam), between which were to be depicted the hells, animals, pretas, gods, and men. In the middle a dove, a serpent, and a hog, were to symbolise lust, hatred, and ignorance. All round the tire was to go the twelve-fold circle of causation ( pratityasamutpâdo) in the regular and in the inverse order. Beings were to be represented as being born in a supernatural way (aupapâdukah), as by the machinery of a waterwheel, falling from one state and being produced in another.' The wheel was made and placed in the grand entrance gateway' (dvârakoshtake), and a bhikshu appointed to interpret it."

་

Samsâra, or the circuit of life, the eternal round of birth, death, and rebirth, as summarily expressed in the doctrine of the twelve nidânas or twelve-linked chain of causation, is painted around the tire of the wheel.

How carefully the Buddhistic conception of Mâra, as the Prince of the World, holding in his clutches the wheel of life, has been preserved, we can learn from a comparison of an old fresco in the deserted caves of Ajanta, Central India,' with Tibetan and Japanese pictures of the same subject.2 All of them show in the centre the three causes of selfhood, viz., hatred, spite, and sloth, symbolised in a serpent, a cock, and a pig. They are called the three fires, or the three roots of evil, which are raga (passion), doso (sin), moho (infatuation). The Hindu picture exhibits six divisions-the realm of gods, the realm of men, the realm of nâgas (or snakes), the realm of paradise, the realm of ghosts, and the realm of hell. The Tibetan picture shows the same domains, only less distinctly separated, while the Japanese picture shows only five divisions. In or der to show the omnipresence of the Buddha as the principle that sustains all life, the Japanese picture shows a Buddha statue in the hub, while in the Hindu wheel every division contains a Buddha

3

1 Described by L. A. Waddell, M. B., M. R. A. S., in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, April, 1894.

2 The Tibetan and Japanese pictures are explained by Professor Bastian in his Ethnologisches Bilderbuch.

3 We must remember that in some parts of India the serpent is the symbol of perfection and wisdom, -a belief which was adopted by the Ophites, a gnostic sect which revered the snake of the Garden of Eden as the instructor in the knowledge of good and evil and the originator of science.

figure. This Buddha in the world is the Buddha of transformations, Nirmâna-Kaya, representing the tendency of life toward enlightenment. Outside of the wheel two other Buddha figures appear. At

the right-hand corner there is Buddha, the teacher, in the attitude of expounding the good law of righteousness. It is the DharmaKaya, the Buddha embodied in the dharma, i. e., the law, religion,