THE BUDDHIST ABBOT AND THE BRAHMAN.

While King Kanishka stayed at the summer palace to witness the tiger hunt, a Buddhist abbot came to the royal palace and requested an interview with the great King Kanishka's friend; and the abbot was admitted into the presence of Charaka, who happened to be in the company of some councilors of King Subahu, among whom was Acvaghosha, the saintly philosopher. Said the abbot: "I come from the monastery in the hills situated near a Brahman village south of Benares and have been sent by the brethren, the venerable monks whose abbot I am. We know that King Kanishka and you are followers of the Buddha and are steadfast in the orthodox faith. Therefore we approach you in confidence and hope that you will lend your countenance to us, endeavoring to spread and establish

the good law, the pure religion of the Tathagata. We have settled in the hills, but there is a Shiva shrine close by and the villagers continue to offer gifts to the priests while the venerable brethren who profess faith in the glorious doctrine of the Buddha are neglected and sometimes positively suffer from privation."

"What can I do about it?" queried Charaka.

"If the Shiva shrine were removed, the villagers would no longer seek religious comfort through Brahman rites and would turn Buddhists. We are told that you are a Buddhist monk; you will have sympathy with your suffering brethren and help them to expel the unbelievers."

"And do you think," objected Acvaghosha, "that either King Subahu or King Kanishka would lend you his royal authority to interfere with the religious service of any one? No, my friend. The Shiva worshipers may be mistaken in their religious views, but they seek the truth and so long as they do no injury to their neighbors, their worship cannot be disturbed. And I do not know but the Shiva

priests may in their own way do good service to the people."

And there was a Brahman present, one of King Subahu's councilors, who was pleased with Acvaghosha's remark and expressed his approval of the principle of toleration which the great emperor Acoka had proclaimed in one of his edicts as a maxim of good government, and the Brahman added:

"Do not ye, too, O Buddhists, preach the doctrine of the Brahmans, that there is a supreme Lord Creator over all creatures, a divine ego-consciousness of All-existence? Whether we call God Ishvara, or Shiva, or Amitabha, he remains the same and has a just claim to worship."

Acvaghosha shook his head: "No, my Brahman friend! The good law is supreme, and it is a father omnibenevolent as we rightly designate it. It is the norm of existence, the standard of truth, the measure of righteousness; but that norm is not an Ishvara, neither Shiva, nor Brahma. Here is the difference between Ishvara and Amitabha: Ishvara is deified egotism; he demands worship and