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THE LEGENDS AND THEORIES

OF THE

BUDDHISTS.

THE LEGENDS AND THEORIES

OF THE

BUDDHISTS,

COMPARED WITH

HISTORY AND SCIENCE:

WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTICES OF THE LIFE AND SYSTEM OF
GOTAMA BUDDHA.

BY

R. SPENCE HARDY, HON. M.R.A.S.,

AUTHOR OF EASTERN (BUDDHIST) MONACHISM," "A MANUAL OF BUDDHISM," ETC.

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14, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON;

AND

20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH.

1866.

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PREFACE.

THE system attributed to Gótama Buddha is one of the oldest beliefs in the world. It demands, therefore, a place among the records of religious opinion, if for its antiquity alone. But it has other claims upon our attention. There is in it the germ of many of the speculations that are the most prominent in the shifting philosophies of the present day; and it is now professed, at the lowest computation, by three hundred millions of the human race. The information presented in these pages has a further importance, as the Dharmma is comparatively unknown in England. Of this we have evidence in the singular fact, that the name of Gótama Buddha is not found in any work in our language that is exclusively biographical,* although no uninspired man has exercised a greater influence than he upon the social and religious interests of the world.

In the last edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica there is an article under the head of "Gótama Buddha," derived from the same sources as the present work.

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