PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

118Pacific Worldthat the scriptures as well were regarded purely as objects of worship andwere thought to possess a kind of mystical power.Two inferences can be drawn from the large number of these objects ofworship: first, pilgrimages took on a form in which activities of worshipwere able to develop; second, the practice of indiscriminate giving (dåna)flourished. This makes us think that both represent a conspicuous trendtoward the development of a lay Buddhism.Buddhism was introduced to Afghanistan in the third century BCE byAΩoka, but there is absolutely no evidence that Buddhism took root at thattime. The only Buddhist remains that can be traced back prior to thecommon era are several items from within the st¥pa at Jaralabad. It isbelieved that Buddhism emanated extensively around the beginning of thecommon era, in particular, after the formation of the Kushan empire in thefirst century CE. Coupled with the rise of the Roman Empire during thisperiod, contacts between the East and West developed rapidly. Buddhismspread to Afghanistan through the medium of caravans engaged in trade,but such Buddhism was under the influence of the Buddhism of Gandhåra,the great commercial city that connected India with the outside world.Gandhåra was an international city in which there existed a mixture ofIndian and western things. From such epoch-making events as the existenceof a Buddhist st¥pa at Sirkap in Taxila 10 and the appearance of Buddhaimages that flourished in Gandhåra in the latter half of the first century CE,we can infer without difficulty that Buddhism surely took root there ataround the beginning of the common era. This area was a typical terminuszone in which there existed a confusing mixture of different cultures.Buddhism here ushered in people from many different races and, ratherthan requiring them to learn complicated doctrine and perform difficultpractices, it taught them a simplistic practice which gave lucid promise ofa desirable and fortunate outcome. That is to say, it was a lay-orientedBuddhism, in which one could hope to receive the salvation of the Buddhaas the reward for performing such simple practices as giving, makingofferings in reverence, and worship, which was most easily accepted bypeople of different races.Of course, inscriptions and Buddhist transmissions attest to the existenceof the Sarvåstivådin order, and the Milinda-pañhå 11 tells of the intensephilosophical interest in Buddhist doctrine by the Greek King Menandros.However, it cannot be believed that the traders of Central Asia, whowere engaged in everyday commerce, understood such metaphysicaldiscussions.It is possible to say that the Buddhism that found acceptance inAfghanistan placed primary value in objects of art such as objects ofworship like st¥pa-s and newly added Buddha images. They later came toinclude the images of bodhisattvas, which the people were probablybrought to feel close to as a result of the newly emerging Mahåyåna