most part, are not Indic, in the belief that the P[=a]li books of Ceylon give a truer picture of the early church than do those of Kashmeer and Nep[=a]l, with their Civaite and Brahmanic admixture.  For in truth the Buddhism of China and Tibet has no place in the history of Indic religions.  It may have been introduced by Hindu missionaries, but it has been re-made to suit a foreign people.  This does not apply, of course, to the canonical books, the Great Vehicle, of the North, which is essentially native, if not Buddhistic.  Yet of the simple narrative and the adulterated mystery-play, if one has to choose, the former must take precedence.  From the point of view of history, Northern Buddhism, however old its elements, can be regarded only as an admixture of Buddhistic and Brahmanic ideas.  For this reason we take a little more space, not to cite from the Lotus or the grotesque Lalita Vistara,[68] but to illustrate Buddhism at its best.  Fausboell, who has translated the dialogue that follows, thinks that in the Suttas of the Sutta-nip[=a]ta there is a reminiscence of a stage of Buddhism before the institution of monasteries, while as yet the disciples lived as hermits.  The collection is at least very primitive, although we doubt whether the Buddhist disciples ever lived formally as individual hermits.  All the Samanas are in groups, little ‘congregations,’ which afterwards grew into monasteries.

This is a poetical (amoebic) contest between the herdsman Dhaniya and Buddha, with which Fausboell[69] compares St. Luke, xii. 16, but which, on the other hand reminds one of a spiritualized Theocritus, with whom its author was, perhaps, contemporary.

I have boiled the rice, I have milked the kine—­so said the herdsman Dhaniya—­I am living with my comrades near the banks of the (great) Mah[=i] river; the house is roofed, the fire is lit—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!

I am free from anger, free from stubbornness—­so said the Blessed One—­I am abiding for one night near the banks of the (great) Mah[=i] river; my house has no cover, the fire (of passion) is extinguished—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!

     Here are no gad-files—­so said the herdsman Dhaniya—­The
     cows are roaming in meadows full of grass, and they can
     endure the rain—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!

1 have made a well-built raft—­so said the Blessed One—­I have crossed over, I have reached the further bank, I have overcome the torrent (of passions); I need the raft no more—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!

My wife is obedient, she is not wanton—­so said the herdsman Dhaniya—­she has lived with me long and is winning; no wickedless have I heard of her—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!

My mind is obedient, delivered (from evil)—­so said the Blessed One—­it has been cultivated long and is well-subdued; there is no longer anything wicked in me—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!

     I support myself by my own earnings—­so said the herdsman
     Dhaniya—­and my children are around me and healthy; I hear
     no wickedness of them—­then rain if thou wilt, O sky!