Myths of the Hindus & Buddhists

The Epic of Hinduismlinity, destined from his birth to a marvellous future, bothin faith and art, as the forefront of all undertakings thatare to make for success.Less ancient than the primitiveMother of the Dekkan villages, he was nevertheless, itmay be, the beginning of organized worship. He wasalready old when Buddhism was young. Above all, he isthe god neither of priests nor of kings, neither of theocraciesnor of nations, but in all probabilityof that old diffusivemercantile culture, the civilization of the Bharatas. Tothis day he is the god pre-eminently ofmerchants, and itis a curious fact that in the Indian city,when a merchantis made bankrupt, the event is notified to all comers bythe office Ganeshas being turned upside down !The Epic of HinduismFirst of the popular scriptures of Hinduism written earlyin the Christian era, for the now consolidating nationwas the epic poem of Valmiki known as the Ramayana.This is the world gospel of purity and sorrow, but also,no less notably, the fairy-tale of nature. Since the beginning of the reign of Ganesha the age of the making ofBuddhism and the Jataka had come and gone, and withthe passing centuries the sway of the Aryan genius hadbeen more and more clearly felt. As in every work ofart we obtain a glimpse of the culture that precedes it, soin the Ramayana, while there is a great deal that isprophetic of developments to come, we also find ourselvestransported into the child-world of an earlier age. Likeall such worlds, it was one in which birds and beastscould talk and comport themselves as men. To the folkof that time, it is clear, the forest was a realm of mystery.It was inhabited by scholars and anchorites. It was fullof beautiful flowers and fragrance ; it was the haunt of19