The History of Buddhist Thought c22.27

c22.27

This is a bare statement of the fundamental doctrine of the Void. Its significance will be seen below in the light of the Perfection of Wisdom. Yet in the popular mode of expression the Tathāgata does manifest himself. He does so “when men have become unbelieving, unwise, ignorant, careless, fond of sensual pleasures”. In the same way the god Krishna in the *Bhagavadgītā* (iv, 7, 8) says, “whenever there is a decay of righteousness and a rising of unrighteousness, then I emanate myself. In order to save the good and to destroy evil doers, to establish righteousness I am born from age to age.” The actual historical relations between Buddhism and Krishnaism or Vaishnavism are not known, but here we have popular Mahāyāna Buddhism conforming exactly to the beliefs of contemporary Hinduism. The metaphysical basis of Buddhism, however, remains quite independent (ch. 15).