A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.17

v2.c19.s5.17

The Buddhist doctrine that there is no permanent ego, no substance of soul,³ but only a constant change of physical and psychical phenomena, can scarcely be reconciled to the belief in a cycle of rebirths, such as Buddha like the rest of his countrymen assumed, and still less does it harmonise with the doctrine of Karman, according to which all that an individual suffers or enjoys is the result of his own previous actions, a doctrine which plays so important a part in the ethics of Buddhism. The first of these two questions forms the theme of the following conversation,¹ which I quote here because it shows the ability of the author of this work in elucidating even the most difficult problems in an ingenious manner, and by means of excellent parables: