Buddha: His Life, his Doctrine, his Order c7.s1.t3.8

c7.s1.t3.8

We have shown how the age which followed the period of the Rig Veda created a new scheme of the universe. On all sides men descried gloomy formless powers, either openly displayed or veiled in mysterious symbols, contending with each other, and, like harassing enemies, preparing contretemps for human destiny. The tyranny of death also is enhanced in the estimation of the dismal mystic of this age; the power of death over men is not spent with the one blow which he inflicts. It soon comes to be averred that his power over him, who is not wise enough to save himself by the use of the right words and the right offerings, extends even into the world beyond, and death cuts short his life yonder again and again; we soon meet the conception of a multiplicity of death-powers, of whom some pursue men in the worlds on this side, and others in the worlds beyond. "Whoever passes into that world without having made himself free from death, will become in that world again and again the prey of death, in the same way that death shows no respect in this world and kills him when he wills." And in another place, "Through all worlds truly death's powers have dominion; if he offered to these no libations, death would pursue him from world to world—if he offers libations to the powers of death, he repels death through world after world."*