History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c91.99

v7.c91.99

As stated above, the original Buddhism preached by the Buddha and his followers in the first century or two after his *parini vāna* was more or less a strict ethical code for individuals who sought salvation from the misery of the world. The three central conceptions of very early Buddhism were the three refuges (*or ratnas*) Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. Gradually a new doctrine was evolved¹⁵¹³ It came to be thought that to care for one's own deliverance and spend all efforts thereon was rather selfish, that as the Buddha himself out of compassion for suffering humanity worked for forty-five years to lead men to salvation by his exhortations and sermons, so a Buddhist should prefer to put off his own deliverance, should work for the deliverance of his fellowmen out of compassion (*karuṇā*) for their miserable lot and in doing so should be ready to be born again and again, should not care for his own salvation and should not be afraid of *saṁsāra* Those holding these latter views deified Buddha, taught that Buddhahood was attained by Siddhārtha after undergoing numerous births in doing service and rendering help to others and that this was a superior code of conduct (Mahāyāna, the Great Vehicle or Way) to the selfish code of salvation for an individual himself (which came to be called Hīnayāna, the lesser Vehicle or Way) This extra-regarding gospel of Mahāyāna was very attractive and won great support in most countries of Asia.¹⁵¹⁴