Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/369

Rh commanded all to retire from the world and embrace the Holy Order. To conquer the yearning for life and its pleasures was his cardinal aim, and he assigned no peculiar virtue to a mere outward act of renunciation of the world. Nevertheless, as it was difficult to conquer that thirst so long as one was actually living in the midst of his family and enjoying the pleasures of life, Gautama recommended the life of a Bhikkhu as the most efficacious means for securing the great end, and so thousands retired from the world and became Bhikkhus, thus forming the Buddhist monastic system, which was probably the first organized monastic system in the world.

These are the leading doctrines of Gautama's religion, whose great distinguishing feature is that it is a training towards a virtuous and holy life on this earth, and takes little thought of reward or punishment. It appeals to the most disinterested feelings in man's nature, sets before him virtue as its own reward, and enjoins a lifelong endeavour towards its attainment. It knows of no higher aim among gods or men than the attainment of a tranquil, sinless life; it speaks of no other salvation than virtuous peace, it knows of no other heaven than holiness. Small wonder, then, that within three centuries from the time when Gautama proclaimed his message of equality and of love in Benares, his creed was the state religion of India, triumphing for a space over Brahmanism under the sway of Asoka, "Beloved of the Gods."