History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.306

v7.c91.306

The main matters of controversy between Buddha and the Hindu religious and philosophical system current in his time are generally held to have been caste divisions and pride of caste, the absolute authoritativeness of the Vedas and the great importance attached to sacrifices.1642a Buddha asserted that righteousness and wisdom were the best, he did not expressly deny the existence of God but proclaimed that it was unnecessary to be definite nor did he pronounce his definite views on such questions as whether the world is eternal or non-eternal, since according to him, to cogitate on such points would be "a thicket of theorizing, wilderness of theorizing, the tangle of theorizing, the bondage and shackles of theorizing.... nor would it conduce to aversion, passionlessness, tranquillity, peace, illumination and *nirvāṇa*."¹⁶⁴³ Buddha did not think much of worship or prayer. According to him, what mattered was the deliverance of man from sorrow and suffering and the attainment of nirvāṇa1643a (which state he did not care to define clearly and precisely). The original doctrine (called *hīnayāna*, 'the lesser way or vehicle') held that the experience of enlightenment and *nirvāṇa* can be secured by human beings in this very life if they follow the path chalked out by Buddha.