Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/677

* NIRVANA. 577 NISH. nal blissful repose. Kiirllior ohangcs naturally ii.llowfd. We are tol<l. for instance, that nir- ana is quietude and identity, whereas sanisara is turmoil and variety; that nirvana is freedom from all conditions of e.istcncc, whereas sam- eara is birth, disease, decrepitude, and death, sin and pain, merit and demerit, virtue and vice; that nirvana is the shore of salvation for those who are in danger of being drowned in the sea of samsara ; that it is the port read}' to receive those who have escaped the dungeon of existence, the medicine which cures all dis- ea.ses, and the water which quenches the tliirst of all desires. To Buddha, who receive<l the term from earlier Hinduism and did not invent it, nirvana meant, first of all, the extinction of desire, of anger, of ignorance. Whether it was also synonymous with annihilation he refused to state, although this may be inferred. The later Buddhistic interpret.ations show that it was impossible to retain the notion of a non- psycliic individuality persisting after death, and that the goal of extinction steadily faded before the older and more permanent notion of eternal felicity in one form or another. The first of these later views is that which confounds with nirvana the preparatory labor of the mind to arrive at that end, and therefore assumes that nirvana is the extinction of men- tality, or even of self-consciousness. The er- roneousness of this view is based on the fact that the mind, even though in a stiite of uncon- sciousness, as when ceasing to think, or when speculating, is still within the pale of existence. Thus, to obviate the mistaken notion that such a state is the real nirvana. Buddhistic works sometimes speak of the "nirvana without a remainder of substratum" in contradistinction to the '"nirvana with a remainder;" meaning by the latter expression that condition of a saint which, in consequence of his bodily and mental austerities, immediately precedes his real nirvana, but in which, nevertheless, he is still an occupant of the material world. The second heterodox view of nirvana is that which, though acknowledging in principle the original notion of Buddhist salvation, clearly represents a compromise with popular prejudice. It belongs to a still later period of Buddhism, when this religion, in extending its conquests over Asia, had to encounter creeds which ab- horred the idea of an absolute nihilism. This compromise coincides with the creation of a Buddhistic pantheon, and with the classification of Buddhist saints into three classes, each of which has its own nirvana ; that of the two lower degrees consisting of a vast number of years, at the end of which, however, those saints are born again: while the absolute nirvana is reserved for the highest class of saints. Hence Buddhistic salvation is then spoken of, either simply as nirviiiifi, the lowest, or as pnrinirra- na, the middle, or as malulpurinirnlixi. final and absolute extinction of individuality; and as those who have not yet attained to the highest nir- vana must live in the heavens of tlie two in- ferior classes of saints until they reappear in this world, their condition of nirvana is as- similated to that state of more or less material happiness which is also held out to the Brah- manical Hindu before he is completely absorbed into Brahma. Wien, in its last stage. Buddhism assumes an Adi, or primitive Buddha, as the career of the universe, nirvana, then meaning the ab- sorption into this Buddha, ceases to have any real allinity with the original Buddhistic term, and becomes identified with the iiijki<u, or salva- tion by absorption, of the pantheistic philoso- phers. See also Biddhi.sm and L..m^usm. Con- sult: Oldenberg, Buddhri. His Life, His Doctrine, His Order (London, 1882); Hopkins, Religions of India (Boston, 189.5) ; Dalilmann, irvann, eine Htudie xur Yorgeschichte des Buddhismus (Berlin. 1890). NI'SAN. In the Jewish calendar, the first montti (jf the ecclesiastical year. See Abib. NISARD, ne'ziir', Desir£ (1800-88). A French literarj' critic and historian, born at Chatillon-suf-Seine, Cote-d'Or. Xisard began literary life as a liberal journalist. He supported the .July Monarchy after a brief period of vigorous radicalism as editor of Le National and fellow-worker of Armand Carrel. In 1835 he was made Supervisor of Xorraal Schools, and, with official promotions, giew yearly more conservative and even reac- tionary. From 1842 to 1848 he was Deputy, and, after temporary eclipse at the Revolution of 1848, recovered imder Xapoleon III. favor and office, which he used so servilely, in lectur- ing at the College de France, as to i)rovoke student riots and require police protection (185.5). In recompense for this he was made Commander of the Legion of Honor (18501, Director of the Normal School (1857), and Senator ( 1807 ) . He had belonged to the Acad- emy since 1850. His more noteworthy works are Eisloire de la litterature fran^aise ( 1844-01) : Etudes (1859) ; and yoiiielles etudes (1864). As critic he stands for classic as op- posed to romantic ideals. He neglects the Mid- dle Ages and the Renaissance, and regrets alike the perversity of the eighteenth century and the degeneracy of the nineteenth. His objective method and martinet spirit delighted only in the clear precision of the Classic School. Thus he is the opposite of Sainte-Beuve and the fore- runner of Bruneti&re. Jsisard died March 15, 1888, at San Remo, Consult his .S'oMreiiirs et notes hiograpliiques (1888). NISCEMI, ne-sha'nie. A town in the Prov- ince of Caltanissetta. Sicily. ,30 miles southeast by south of the city of Caltanissetta (Map: Italy. J 10). A ruined castle is the chief object of interest. In 1790 the town suffered from an earthquake, the ground sinking in one place to the deptli of .30 feet. Population (commune), 1881. 11.902: 1901. 14.089. NISH, nesh. or NISSA. nIs'sA. The second city of Servia. situated on the Xishava. a tribu- tary of the Morava. about 130 miles southeast of Belgrade (Map; Balkan Peninsula. D 3). It is fortified and divided into a Turkish and a Servian town. It is gradually assuming a European aspect. Its educational institutions inclijde a gv"mnasium and a training school for teachers. Situated at the junction of the Vien- na-Belgrade-Constantinople and the XishSaloni- ki railway lines, as well as at the converging point of several important roads. Xish is of great commercial and strategic importance. It was prior to 1901 the seat of the Xational Assembly. Population, in 1895, 21.-524, including about 2000 Mohammedans.