,,the ,,unknown ,,life ,,of ,,jesus     
,,christ  ,the ,original ,text of       
,nicolas ,notovitch's #ahhg ,discovery  
by  ,,nicolas ,,notovitch  ,translated  
by ,j4 ,h4 ,connelly and ,l4 ,landsberg 
,printed in the ,united ,states of      
,america  ,new ,york3 ,r4,f4 ,fenno4    
#ahij4     ,table of ,contents          
,preface                                
vi  ,a ,journey in ,thibet              
#a  ,ladak                              
#cc  ,a ,festival in a ,gonpa           
#de  ,the ,life of ,saint ,issa         
#fa  ,resum                             
#hi  ,explanatory ,notes                
#aag     ,preface   ,after the ,turkish 
,war 7#ahgg-ahgh7 ,i made a series of   
travels in the ,orient4 ,from the little
 remarkable ,balkan peninsula1 ,i went  
across the ,caucasus to ,central ,asia  
and ,persia1 and finally1 in #ahhg1     
visited ,india1 an admirable country    
which had attracted me from my earliest 
childhood4 ,my purpose in this journey  
was to study and know1 at home1 the     

peoples who inhabit ,india and their    
customs1 the grand and mysterious       
archology1 and the colossal and majestic
 nature of their country4 ,wandering    
about without fixed plans1 from one     
place to another1 ,i came to mountainous
 ,afghanistan1 whence ,i regained ,india
 by way of the picturesque passes of    
,bolan and ,guerna4 ,then1 going up the 
,indus to ,raval ,pindi1 ,i ran over the
 ,pendjab--the land of the five rivers2 
visited the ,golden ,temple of          
,amritsa--the tomb of the ,king of      
,pendjab1 ,randjid ,singh1 near ,lahore2
 and turned toward ,kachmyr1 ,the       
,valley of ,eternal ,bliss4 ,thence ,i  
directed my peregrinations as my        
curiosity impelled me1 until ,i arrived 
in ,ladak1 whence ,i intended returning 
to ,russia by way of ,karakoroum and    
,chinese ,turkestan4  ,one day1 while   
visiting a ,buddhist convent on my      
route1 ,i learned from a chief lama1    
that there existed in the archives of   
,lhassa1 very ancient memoirs relating  

to the life of ,jesus ,christ and the   
occidental nations1 and that certain    
great monasteries possessed old copies  
and translations of those chronicles4   
,as it was little probable that ,i      
should make another journey into this   
country1 ,i resolved to put off my      
return to ,europe until a later date1   
and1 cost what it might1 either find    
those copies in the great convents or go
 to ,lhassa--a journey which is far from
 being so dangerous and difficult as is 
generally supposed1 involving only such 
perils as ,i was already accustomed to1 
and which would not make me hesitate at 
attempting it4  ,during my sojourn at   
,leh1 capital of ,ladak1 ,i visited the 
great convent ,himis1 situated near the 
city1 the chief lama of which informed  
me that their monastic library contained
 copies of the manuscripts in question4 
,in order that ,i might not awaken the  
suspicions of the authorities concerning
 the object of my visit to the cloister1
 and to evade obstacles which might be  

opposed to me as a ,russian1 prosecuting
 further my journey in ,thibet1 ,i gave 
out upon my return to ,leh that ,i would
 depart for ,india1 and so left the     
capital of ,ladak4 ,an unfortunate fall1
 causing the breaking of a leg1         
furnished me with an absolutely         
unexpected pretext for returning to the 
monastery1 where ,i received surgical   
attention4 ,i took advantage of my short
 sojourn among the lamas to obtain the  
consent of their chief that they should 
bring to me1 from their library1 the    
manuscripts relating to ,jesus ,christ1 
and1 assisted by my interpreter1 who    
translated for me the ,thibetan         
language1 transferred carefully to my   
notebook what the lama read to me4  ,not
 doubting at all the authenticity of    
this chronicle1 edited with great       
exactitude by the ,brahminic1 and more  
especially the ,buddhistic historians of
 ,india and ,nepaul1 ,i desired1 upon my
 return to ,europe1 to publish a        
translation of it4  ,to this end1 ,i    

addressed myself to several universally 
known ecclesiastics1 asking them to     
revise my notes and tell me what they   
thought of them4  ,mgr4 ,platon1 the    
celebrated metropolitan of ,kiew1       
thought that my discovery was of great  
importance4 ,nevertheless1 he sought to 
dissuade me from publishing the memoirs1
 believing that their publication could 
only hurt me4 ,why8 ,this the venerable 
prelate refused to tell me more         
explicitly4 ,nevertheless1 since our    
conversation took place in ,russia1     
where the censor would have put his veto
 upon such a work1 ,i made up my mind to
 wait4  ,a year later1 ,i found myself  
in ,rome4 ,i showed my manuscript to a  
cardinal very near to the ,holy ,father1
 who answered me literally in these     
words3--,what good will it do to print  
this8 ,nobody will attach to it any     
great importance and you will create a  
number of enemies4 ,but1 you are still  
very young6 ,if it is a question of     
money which concerns you1 ,i can ask for

 you a reward for your notes1 a sum     
which will repay your expenditures and  
recompense you for your loss of time4   
,of course1 ,i refused4  ,in ,paris ,i  
spoke of my project to ,cardinal        
,rotelli1 whose acquaintance ,i had made
 in ,constantinople4 ,he1 too1 was      
opposed to having my work printed1 under
 the pretext that it would be premature4
 ,the church1 he added1 suffers already 
too much from the new current of        
atheistic ideas1 and you will but give a
 new food to the calumniators and       
detractors of the evangelical doctrine4 
,i tell you this in the interest of all 
the ,christian churches4  ,then ,i went 
to see ,m4 ,jules ,simon4 ,he found my  
matter very interesting and advised me  
to ask the opinion of ,m4 ,renan1 as to 
the best way of publishing these        
memoirs4 ,the next day ,i was seated in 
the cabinet of the great philosopher4   
,at the close of our conversation1 ,m4  
,renan proposed that ,i should confide  
to him the memoirs in question1 so that 

he might make to the ,academy a report  
upon the discovery4  ,this proposition1 
as may be easily understood1 was very   
alluring and flattering to my amour     
propre4 ,i1 however1 took away with me  
the manuscript1 under the pretext of    
further revising it4 ,i foresaw that if 
,i accepted the proposed combination1 ,i
 would only have the honor of having    
found the chronicles1 while the         
illustrious author of the ,life of      
,jesus would have the glory of the      
publication and the commenting upon it4 
,i thought myself sufficiently prepared 
to publish the translation of the       
chronicles1 accompanying them with my   
notes1 and1 therefore1 did not accept   
the very gracious offer he made to me4  
,but1 that ,i might not wound the       
susceptibility of the great master1 for 
whom ,i felt a profound respect1 ,i made
 up my mind to delay publication until  
after his death1 a fatality which could 
not be far off1 if ,i might judge from  
the apparent general weakness of ,m4    

,renan4 ,a short time after ,m4 ,renan's
 death1 ,i wrote to ,m4 ,jules ,simon   
again for his advice4 ,he answered me1  
that it was my affair to judge of the   
opportunity for making the memoirs      
public4  ,i therefore put my notes in   
order and now publish them1 reserving   
the right to substantiate the           
authenticity of these chronicles4 ,in my
 commentaries ,i proffer the arguments  
which must convince us of the sincerity 
and good faith of the ,buddhist         
compilers4 ,i wish to add that before   
criticising my communication1 the       
societies of savans can1 without much   
expense1 equip a scientific expedition  
having for its mission the study of     
those manuscripts in the place where ,i 
discovered them1 and so may easily      
verify their historic value4  --,nicolas
 ,notovitch     ,the ,unknown ,life of  
,jesus ,christ     ,a ,journey in       
,thibet   ,during my sojourn in ,india1 
,i often had occasion to converse with  
the ,buddhists1 and the accounts they   

gave me of ,thibet excited my curiosity 
to such an extent that ,i resolved to   
make a journey into that still almost   
unknown country4 ,for this purpose ,i   
set out upon a route crossing ,kachmyr  
7,cashmere71 which ,i had long intended 
to visit4  ,on the #adth of ,october1   
#ahhg1 ,i entered a railway car crowded 
with soldiers1 and went from ,lahore to 
,raval-,pinidi1 where ,i arrived the    
next day1 near noon4 ,after resting a   
little and inspecting the city1 to which
 the permanent garrison gives the aspect
 of a military camp1 ,i provided myself 
with the necessaries for a journey1     
where horses take the place of the      
railway cars4 ,assisted by my servant1 a
 colored man of ,pondichery1 ,i packed  
all my baggage1 hired a tonga 7a        
two-wheeled vehicle which is drawn by   
two horses71 stowed myself upon its back
 seat1 and set out upon the picturesque 
road leading to ,kachmyr1 an excellent  
highway1 upon which we travelled        
rapidly4 ,we had to use no little skill 

in making our way through the ranks of a
 military caravan--its baggage carried  
upon camels--which was part of a        
detachment returning from a country camp
 to the city4 ,soon we arrived at the   
end of the valley of ,pendjab1 and      
climbing up a way with infinite         
windings1 entered the passes of the     
,himalayas4 ,the ascent became more and 
more steep4 ,behind us spread1 like a   
beautiful panorama1 the region we had   
just traversed1 which seemed to sink    
farther and farther away from us4 ,as   
the sun's last glances rested upon the  
tops of the mountains1 our tonga came   
gaily out from the zigzags which the eye
 could still trace far down the         
forest-clad slope1 and halted at the    
little city of ,mur2 where the families 
of the ,english functionaries came to   
seek shade and refreshment4             
,ordinarily1 one can go in a tonga from 
,mur to ,srinagar2 but at the approach  
of the winter season1 when all          
,europeans desert ,kachmyr1 the tonga   

service is suspended4 ,i undertook my   
journey precisely at the time when the  
summer life begins to wane1 and the     
,englishmen whom ,i met upon the road1  
returning to ,india1 were much          
astonished to see me1 and made vain     
efforts to divine the purpose of my     
travel to ,kachmyr4  ,abandoning the    
tonga1 ,i hired saddle horses--not      
without considerable difficulty--and    
evening had arrived when we started to  
descend from ,mur1 which is at an       
altitude of #e1jjj feet4 ,this stage of 
our journey had nothing playful in it4  
,the road was torn in deep ruts by the  
late rains1 darkness came upon us and   
our horses rather guessed than saw their
 way4 ,when night had completely set in1
 a tempestuous rain surprised us in the 
open country1 and1 owing to the thick   
foliage of the centenarian oaks which   
stood on the sides of our road1 we were 
plunged in profound darkness4 ,that we  
might not lose each other1 we had to    
continue exchanging calls from time to  

time4 ,in this impenetrable obscurity we
 divined huge masses of rock almost     
above our heads1 and were conscious of1 
on our left1 a roaring torrent1 the     
water of which formed a cascade we could
 not see4 ,during two hours we waded in 
the mud and the icy rain had chilled my 
very marrow1 when we perceived in the   
distance a little fire1 the sight of    
which revived our energies4 ,but how    
deceitful are lights in the mountains6  
,you believe you see the fire burning   
quite near to you and at once it        
disappears1 to reappear again1 to the   
right1 to the left1 above1 below you1 as
 if it took pleasure in playing tricks  
upon the harassed traveller4 ,all the   
time the road makes a thousand turns1   
and winds here and there1 and the       
fire--which is immovable--seems to be in
 continual motion1 the obscurity        
preventing you realizing that you       
yourself modify your direction every    
instant4  ,i had quite given up all hope
 of approaching this much-wished-for    

fire1 when it appeared again1 and this  
time so near that our horses stopped    
before it4  ,i have here to express my  
sincere thanks to the ,englishmen for   
the foresight of which they gave proof  
in building by the roadsides the little 
bengalows--one-story houses for the     
shelter of travellers4 ,it is true1 one 
must not demand comfort in this kind of 
hotel2 but this is a matter in which the
 traveller1 broken down by fatigue1 is  
not exacting1 and he is at the summit of
 happiness when he finds at his disposal
 a clean and dry room4  ,the ,hindus1 no
 doubt1 did not expect to see a         
traveller arrive at so late an hour of  
the night and in this season1 for they  
had taken away the keys of the bengalow1
 so we had to force an entrance4 ,i     
threw myself upon a bed prepared for me1
 composed of a pillow and blanket       
saturated with water1 and almost at once
 fell asleep4 ,at daybreak1 after taking
 tea and some conserves1 we took up our 
march again1 now bathed in the burning  

rays of the sun4 ,from time to time1 we 
passed villages2 the first in a superb  
narrow pass1 then along the road        
meandering in the bosom of the mountain4
 ,we descended eventually to the river  
,djeloum 7,jhelum71 the waters of which 
flow gracefully1 amid the rocks by which
 its course is obstructed1 between rocky
 walls whose tops in many places seem   
almost to reach the azure skies of the  
,himalayas1 a heaven which here shows   
itself remarkably pure and serene4      
,toward noon we arrived at the hamlet   
called ,tongue--situated on the bank of 
the river--which presents an unique     
array of huts that give the effect of   
boxes1 the openings of which form a     
faade4 ,here are sold comestibles and   
all kinds of merchandise4 ,the place    
swarms with ,hindus1 who bear on their  
foreheads the variously colored marks of
 their respective castes4 ,here1 too1   
you see the beautiful people of         
,kachmyr1 dressed in their long white   
shirts and snowy turbans4 ,i hired here1

 at a good price1 a ,hindu cabriolet1   
from a ,kachmyrian4 ,this vehicle is so 
constructed that in order to keep one's 
seat in it1 one must cross his legs in  
the ,turkish fashion4 ,the seat is so   
small that it will hold1 at most1 only  
two persons4 ,the absence of any support
 for the back makes this mode of        
transportation very dangerous2          
nevertheless1 ,i accepted this kind of  
circular table mounted on two wheels and
 drawn by a horse1 as ,i was anxious to 
reach1 as soon as possible1 the end of  
my journey4 ,hardly1 however1 had ,i    
gone five hundred yards on it1 when ,i  
seriously regretted the horse ,i had    
forsaken1 so much fatigue had ,i to     
endure keeping my legs crossed and      
maintaining my equilibrium4             
,unfortunately1 it was already too late4
  ,evening was falling when ,i          
approached the village of ,hori4        
,exhausted by fatigue2 racked by the    
incessant jolting2 my legs feeling as if
 invaded by millions of ants1 ,i had    

been completely incapable of enjoying   
the picturesque landscape spread before 
us as we journeyed along the ,djeloum1  
the banks of which are bordered on one  
side by steep rocks and on the other by 
the heavily wooded slopes of the        
mountains4 ,in ,hori ,i encountered a   
caravan of pilgrims returning from      
,mecca4  ,thinking ,i was a physician   
and learning my haste to reach ,ladak1  
they invited me to join them1 which ,i  
promised ,i would at ,srinagar4  ,i     
spent an ill night1 sitting up in my    
bed1 with a lighted torch in my hand1   
without closing my eyes1 in constant    
fear of the stings and bites of the     
scorpions and centipedes which swarm in 
the bengalows4 ,i was sometimes ashamed 
of the fear with which those vermin     
inspired me2 nevertheless1 ,i could not 
fall asleep among them4 ,where1 truly1  
in man1 is the line that separates      
courage from cowardice8 ,i will not     
boast of my bravery1 but ,i am not a    
coward1 yet the insurmountable fear with

 which those malevolent little creatures
 thrilled me1 drove sleep from my       
eyelids1 in spite of my extreme fatigue4
  ,our horses carried us into a flat    
valley1 encircled by high mountains4    
,bathed as ,i was in the rays of the    
sun1 it did not take me long to fall    
asleep in the saddle4 ,a sudden sense of
 freshness penetrated and awoke me4 ,i  
saw that we had already begun climbing a
 mountain path1 in the midst of a dense 
forest1 rifts in which occasionally     
opened to our admiring gaze ravishing   
vistas1 impetuous torrents2 distant     
mountains2 cloudless heavens2 a         
landscape1 far below1 of wondrous       
beauty4 ,all about us were the songs of 
numberless brilliantly plumaged birds4  
,we came out of the forest toward noon1 
descended to a little hamlet on the bank
 of the river1 and after refreshing     
ourselves with a light1 cold collation1 
continued our journey4 ,before starting1
 ,i went to a bazaar and tried to buy   
there a glass of warm milk from a       

,hindu1 who was sitting crouched before 
a large cauldron full of boiling milk4  
,how great was my surprise when he      
proposed to me that ,i should take away 
the whole cauldron1 with its contents1  
assuring me that ,i had polluted the    
milk it contained6 ,i only want a glass 
of milk and not a kettle of it1 ,i said 
to him4  ,according to our laws1 the    
merchant answered me1 if any one not    
belonging to our caste has fixed his    
eyes for a long time upon one of our    
cooking utensils1 we have to wash that  
article thoroughly1 and throw away the  
food it contains4 ,you have polluted my 
milk and no one will drink any more of  
it1 for not only were you not contented 
with fixing your eyes upon it1 but you  
have even pointed to it with your       
finger4  ,i had indeed a long time      
examined his merchandise1 to make sure  
that it was really milk1 and had pointed
 with my finger1 to the merchant1 from  
which side ,i wished the milk poured    
out4 ,full of respect for the laws and  

customs of foreign peoples1 ,i paid1    
without dispute1 a rupee1 the price of  
all the milk1 which was poured in the   
street1 though ,i had taken only one    
glass of it4 ,this was a lesson which   
taught me1 from now on1 not to fix my   
eyes upon the food of the ,hindus4      
,there is no religious belief more      
muddled by the numbers of ceremonious   
laws and commentaries prescribing its   
observances than the ,brahminic4  ,while
 each of the other principal religions  
has but one inspired book1 one ,bible1  
one ,gospel1 or one ,koran--books from  
which the ,hebrew1 the ,christian and   
the ,musselman draw their creeds--the   
,brahminical ,hindus possess such a     
great number of tomes and commentaries  
in folio that the wisest ,brahmin has   
hardly had the time to peruse one-tenth 
of them4 ,leaving aside the four books  
of the ,vedas2 the ,puranas--which are  
written in ,sanscrit and composed of    
eighteen volumes--containing #djj1jjj   
strophes treating of law1 rights1       

theogony1 medicine1 the creation and    
destruction of the world1 etc42 the vast
 ,shastras1 which deal with mathematics1
 grammar1 etc42 the ,upa-,vedas1        
,upanishads1 ,upo-,puranas--which are   
explanatory of the ,puranas2--and a     
number of other commentaries in several 
volumes2 there still remain twelve vast 
books1 containing the laws of ,manu1 the
 grandchild of ,brahma--books dealing   
not only with civil and criminal law1   
but also the canonical rules--rules     
which impose upon the faithful such a   
considerable number of ceremonies that  
one is surprised into admiration of the 
illimitable patience the ,hindus show in
 observance of the precepts inculcated  
by ,saint ,manu4 ,manu was incontestably
 a great legislator and a great thinker1
 but he has written so much that it has 
happened to him frequently to contradict
 himself in the course of a single page4
 ,the ,brahmins do not take the trouble 
to notice that1 and the poor ,hindus1   
whose labor supports the ,brahminic     

caste1 obey servilely their clergy1     
whose prescriptions enjoin upon them    
never to touch a man who does not belong
 to their caste1 and also absolutely    
prohibit a stranger from fixing his     
attention upon anything belonging to a  
,hindu4 ,keeping himself to the strict  
letter of this law1 the ,hindu imagines 
that his food is polluted when it       
receives a little protracted notice from
 the stranger4  ,and yet1 ,brahminism   
has been1 even at the beginning of its  
second birth1 a purely monotheistic     
religion1 recognizing only one infinite 
and indivisible ,god4 ,as it came to    
pass in all times and in religions1 the 
clergy took advantage of the privileged 
situation which places them above the   
ignorant multitude1 and early           
manufactured various exterior forms of  
cult and certain laws1 thinking they    
could better1 in this way1 influence and
 control the masses4 ,things changed    
soon1 so far that the principle of      
monotheism1 of which the ,vedas have    

given such a clear conception1 became   
confounded with1 or1 as it were1        
supplanted by an absurd and limitless   
series of gods and goddesses1 half-gods1
 genii and devils1 which were           
represented by idols1 of infinite       
variety but all equally horrible        
looking4 ,the people1 once glorious as  
their religion was once great and pure1 
now slip by degrees into complete       
idiocy4 ,hardly does their day suffice  
for the accomplishment of all the       
prescriptions of their canons4 ,it must 
be said positively that the ,hindus only
 exist to support their principal caste1
 the ,brahmins1 who have taken into     
their hands the temporal power which    
once was possessed by independent       
sovereigns of the people4 ,while        
governing ,india1 the ,englishman does  
not interfere with this phase of the    
public life1 and so the ,brahmins profit
 by maintaining the people's hope of a  
better future4  ,the sun passed behind  
the summit of a mountain1 and the       

darkness of night in one moment         
overspread the magnificent landscape we 
were traversing4 ,soon the narrow valley
 of the ,djeloum fell asleep4 ,our road 
winding along ledges of steep rocks1 was
 instantly hidden from our sight2       
mountains and trees were confounded     
together in one dark mass1 and the stars
 glittered in the celestial vault4 ,we  
had to dismount and feel our way along  
the mountain side1 for fear of becoming 
the prey of the abyss which yawned at   
our feet4 ,at a late hour of the night  
we traversed a bridge and ascended a    
steep elevation leading to the bengalow 
,ouri1 which at this height seems to    
enjoy complete isolation4 ,the next day 
we traversed a charming region1 always  
going along the river--at a turn of     
which we saw the ruins of a ,sikh       
fortress1 that seemed to remember sadly 
its glorious past4 ,in a little valley1 
nestled amid the mountains1 we found a  
bengalow which seemed to welcome us4 ,in
 its proximity were encamped a cavalry  

regiment of the ,maharajah of ,kachmyr4 
,when the officers learned that ,i was a
 ,russian1 they invited me to share     
their repast4 ,there ,i had the pleasure
 of making the acquaintance of ,col4    
,brown1 who was the first to compile a  
dictionary of the ,afghan-pouchton      
language4  ,as ,i was anxious to reach1 
as soon as possible1 the city of        
,srinagar1 ,i1 with little delay1       
continued my journey through the        
picturesque region lying at the foot of 
the mountains1 after having1 for a long 
time1 followed the course of the river4 
,here1 before our eyes1 weary of the    
monotonous desolation of the preceding  
landscapes1 was unfolded a charming view
 of a well-peopled valley1 with many    
two-story houses surrounded by gardens  
and cultivated fields4 ,a little farther
 on begins the celebrated valley of     
,kachmyr1 situated behind a range of    
high rocks which ,i crossed toward      
evening4 ,what a superb panorama        
revealed itself before my eyes1 when ,i 

found myself at the last rock which     
separates the valley of ,kachmyr from   
the mountainous country ,i had          
traversed4 ,a ravishing tableau truly   
enchanted my sight4 ,this valley1 the   
limits of which are lost in the horizon1
 and is throughout well populated1 is   
enshrined amid the high ,himalayan      
mountains4 ,at the rising and the       
setting of the sun1 the zone of eternal 
snows seems a silver ring1 which like a 
girdle surrounds this rich and          
delightful plateau1 furrowed by numerous
 rivers and traversed by excellent      
roads1 gardens1 hills1 a lake1 the      
islands in which are occupied by        
constructions of pretentious style1 all 
these cause the traveller to feel as if 
he had entered another world4 ,it seems 
to him as though he had to go but a     
little farther on and there must find   
the ,paradise of which his governess had
 told him so often in his childhood4    
,the veil of night slowly covered the   
valley1 merging mountains1 gardens and  

lake in one dark amplitude1 pierced here
 and there by distant fires1 resembling 
stars4 ,i descended into the valley1    
directing myself toward the ,djeloum1   
which has broken its way through a      
narrow gorge in the mountains1 to unite 
itself with the waters of the river     
,ind4 ,according to the legend1 the     
valley was once an inland sea2 a passage
 opened through the rocks environing it1
 and drained the waters away1 leaving   
nothing more of its former character    
than the lake1 the ,djeloum and minor   
water-courses4 ,the banks of the river  
are now lined with boat-houses1 long and
 narrow1 which the proprietors1 with    
their families1 inhabit the whole year4 
,from here ,srinagar can be reached in  
one day's travel on horseback2 but with 
a boat the journey requires a day and a 
half4 ,i chose the latter mode of       
conveyance1 and having selected a boat  
and bargained with its proprietor for   
its hire1 took my seat in the bow1 upon 
a carpet1 sheltered by a sort of        

penthouse roof4 ,the boat left the shore
 at midnight1 bearing us rapidly toward 
,srinagar4 ,at the stern of the bark1 a 
,hindu prepared my tea4 ,i went to      
sleep1 happy in knowing my voyage was to
 be accomplished4 ,the hot caress of the
 sun's rays penetrating my little roof  
awakened me1 and what ,i experienced    
delighted me beyond all expression4     
,entirely green banks2 the distant      
outlines of mountain tops covered with  
snow2 pretty villages which from time to
 time showed themselves at the          
mountain's foot2 the crystalline sheet  
of water2 pure and peculiarly agreeable 
air1 which ,i breathed with             
exhilaration2 the musical carols of an  
infinity of birds2 a sky of             
extraordinary purity2 behind me the     
plash of water stirred by the           
round-ended paddle which was wielded    
with ease by a superb woman 7with       
marvellous eyes and a complexion browned
 by the sun71 who wore an air of stately
 indifference3 all these things together

 seemed to plunge me into an ecstasy1   
and ,i forgot entirely the reason for my
 presence on the river4 ,in that moment 
,i had not even a desire to reach the   
end of my voyage--and yet1 how many     
privations remained for me to undergo1  
and dangers to encounter6 ,i felt myself
 here so well content6  ,the boat glided
 rapidly and the landscape continued to 
unfold new beauties before my eyes1     
losing itself in ever new combinations  
with the horizon1 which merged into the 
mountains we were passing1 to become one
 with them4 ,then a new panorama would  
display itself1 seeming to expand and   
flow out from the sides of the          
mountains1 becoming more and more       
grand4444 ,the day was almost spent and 
,i was not yet weary of contemplating   
this magnificent nature1 the view of    
which reawakened the souvenirs of       
childhood and youth4 ,how beautiful were
 those days forever gone6  ,the more    
nearly one approaches ,srinagar1 the    
more numerous become the villages       

embowered in the verdure4 ,at the       
approach of our boat1 some of their     
inhabitants came running to see us2 the 
men in their turbans1 the women in their
 small bonnets1 both alike dressed in   
white gowns reaching to the ground1 the 
children in a state of nudity which     
reminded one of the costumes of our     
first parents4  ,when entering the city 
one sees a range of barks and floating  
houses in which entire families reside4 
,the tops of the far-off1 snow-covered  
mountains were caressed by the last rays
 of the setting sun1 when we glided     
between the wooden houses of ,srinagar1 
which closely line both banks of the    
river4 ,life seems to cease here at     
sunset2 the thousands of many colored   
open boats 7dunga7 and palanquin-covered
 barks 7bangla7 were fastened along the 
beach2 men and women gathered near the  
river1 in the primitive costumes of     
,adam and ,eve1 going through their     
evening ablutions without feeling any   
embarrassment or prudery before each    

other1 since they performed a religious 
rite1 the importance of which is greater
 for them than all human prejudices4    
,on the #bjth of ,october ,i awoke in a 
neat room1 from which ,i had a gay view 
upon the river that was now inundated   
with the rays of the sun of ,kachmyr4   
,as it is not my purpose to describe    
here my experiences in detail1 ,i       
refrain from enumerating the lovely     
valleys1 the paradise of lakes1 the     
enchanting islands1 those historic      
places1 mysterious pagodas1 and         
coquettish villages which seem lost in  
vast gardens2 on all sides of which rise
 the majestic tops of the giants of the 
,himalaya1 shrouded as far as the eye   
can see in eternal snow4 ,i shall only  
note the preparations ,i made in view of
 my journey toward ,thibet4 ,i spent six
 days at ,srinagar1 making long         
excursions into the enchanting          
surroundings of the city1 examining the 
numerous ruins which testify to the     
ancient prosperity of this region1 and  

studying the strange customs of the     
country4         99       99       99   
99       99  ,kachmyr1 as well as the   
other provinces attached to it1         
,baltistan1 ,ladak1 etc41 are vassals of
 ,england4 ,they formerly formed part of
 the possessions of ,randjid ,sing1 the 
,lion of the ,pendjab4 ,at his death1   
the ,english troops occupied ,lahore1   
the capital of the ,pendjab1 separated  
,kachmyr from the rest of the empire and
 ceded it1 under color of hereditary    
right1 and for the sum of #afj1jjj1jjj  
francs1 to ,goulab-,sing1 one of the    
familiars of the late sovereign1        
conferring on him besides the title of  
,maharadja4 ,at the epoch of my journey1
 the actual ,maharadja was              
,pertab-,sing1 the grandchild of        
,goulab1 whose residence is ,jamoo1 on  
the southern slope of the ,himalaya4    
,the celebrated happy valley of ,kachmyr
 7eighty-five miles long by twenty-five 
miles wide7 enjoyed glory and prosperity
 only under the ,grand ,mogul1 whose    

court loved to taste here the sweetness 
of country life1 in the still existent  
pavilions on the little island of the   
lake4 ,most of the ,maharadjas of       
,hindustan used formerly to spend here  
the summer months1 and to take part in  
the magnificent festivals given by the  
,grand ,mogul2 but times have greatly   
changed since1 and the happy valley is  
today no more than a beggar retreat4    
,aquatic plants and scum have covered   
the clear waters of the lake2 the wild  
juniper has smothered all the vegetation
 of the islands2 the palaces and        
pavilions retain only the souvenir of   
their past grandeur2 earth and grass    
cover the buildings which are now       
falling in ruins4 ,the surrounding      
mountains and their eternally white tops
 seem to be absorbed in a sullen        
sadness1 and to nourish the hope of a   
better time for the disclosure of their 
immortal beauties4 ,the once spiritual1 
beautiful and cleanly inhabitants have  
grown animalistic and stupid2 they have 

become dirty and lazy2 and the whip now 
governs them1 instead of the sword4     
,the people of ,kachmyr have so often   
been subject to invasions and pillages  
and have had so many masters1 that they 
have now become indifferent to every    
thing4 ,they pass their time near the   
banks of the rivers1 gossiping about    
their neighbors2 or are engaged in the  
painstaking work of making their        
celebrated shawls2 or in the execution  
of filagree gold or silver work4 ,the   
,kachmyr women are of a melancholy      
temperament1 and an inconceivable       
sadness is spread upon their features4  
,everywhere reigns misery and           
uncleanness4 ,the beautiful men and     
superb women of ,kachmyr are dirty and  
in rags4 ,the costume of the two sexes  
consists1 winter and summer alike1 of a 
long shirt1 or gown1 made of thick      
material and with puffed sleeves4 ,they 
wear this shirt until it is completely  
worn out1 and never is it washed1 so    
that the white turban of the men looks  

like dazzling snow near their dirty     
shirts1 which are covered all over with 
spittle and grease stains4  ,the        
traveller feels himself permeated with  
sadness at seeing the contrast between  
the rich and opulent nature surrounding 
them1 and this people dressed in rags4  
,the capital of the country1 ,srinagar  
7,city of the ,sun71 or1 to call it by  
the name which is given to it here after
 the country1 ,kachmyr1 is situated on  
the shore of the ,djeloum1 along which  
it stretches out toward the south to a  
distance of five kilometres and is not  
more than two kilometres in breadth4    
,its two-story houses1 inhabited by a   
population of #ajj1jjj inhabitants1 are 
built of wood and border both river     
banks4 ,everybody lives on the river1   
the shores of which are united by ten   
bridges4 ,terraces lead from the houses 
to the ,djeloum1 where all day long     
people perform their ceremonial         
ablutions1 bathe and wash their culinary
 utensils1 which consist of a few copper

 pots4 ,part of the inhabitants practice
 the ,musselman religion2 two-thirds are
 ,brahminic2 and there are but few      
,buddhists to be found among them4  ,it 
was time to make other preparations for 
travel before plunging into the unknown4
 ,having purchased different kinds of   
conserves1 wine and other things        
indispensable on a journey through a    
country so little peopled as is ,thibet1
 ,i packed all my baggage in boxes2     
hired six carriers and an interpreter1  
bought a horse for my own use1 and fixed
 my departure for the #bgth of ,october4
 ,to cheer up my journey1 ,i took from a
 good ,frenchman1 ,m4 ,peicheau1 the    
wine cultivator of the ,maharadja1 a big
 dog1 ,pamir1 who had already traversed 
the road with my friends1 ,bonvallot1   
,capus and ,pepin1 the well-known       
explorers4 ,as ,i wished to shorten my  
journey by two days1 ,i ordered my      
carriers to leave at dawn from the other
 side of the lake1 which ,i crossed in a
 boat1 and joined them and my horse at  

the foot of the mountain chain which    
separates the valley of ,srinagar from  
the ,sind gorge4  ,i shall never forget 
the tortures which we had to undergo in 
climbing almost on all fours to a       
mountain top1 three thousand feet high4 
,the carriers were out of breath2 every 
moment ,i feared to see one tumble down 
the declivity with his burden1 and ,i   
felt pained at seeing my poor dog1      
,pamir1 panting and with his tongue     
hanging out1 make two or three steps and
 fall to the ground exhausted4          
,forgetting my own fatigue1 ,i caressed 
and encouraged the poor animal1 who1 as 
if understanding me1 got up to make     
another two or three steps and fall anew
 to the ground4  ,the night had come    
when we reached the crest2 we threw     
ourselves greedily upon the snow to     
quench our thirst2 and after a short    
rest1 started to descend through a very 
thick pine forest1 hastening to gain the
 village of ,haena1 at the foot of the  
defile1 fearing the attacks of beasts of

 prey in the darkness4  ,a level and    
good road leads from ,srinagar to       
,haena1 going straight northward over   
,ganderbal1 where ,i repaired by a more 
direct route across a pass three        
thousand feet high1 which shortened for 
me both time and distance4  ,my first   
step in the unknown was marked by an    
incident which made all of us pass an   
ugly quarter of an hour4 ,the defile of 
the ,sind1 sixty miles long1 is         
especially noteworthy for the           
inhospitable hosts it contains4 ,among  
others it abounds in panthers1 tigers1  
leopards1 black bears1 wolves and       
jackals4 ,as though by a special        
misfortune1 the snow had covered with   
its white carpet the heights of the     
chain1 compelling those formidable1     
carnivorous beasts to descend a little  
lower for shelter in their dens4 ,we    
descended in silence1 amid the darkness1
 a narrow path that wound through the   
centennary firs and birches1 and the    
calm of the night was only broken by the

 crackling sound of our steps4          
,suddenly1 quite near to us1 a terrible 
howling awoke the echoes of the woods4  
,our small troop stopped4 ,a panther6   
exclaimed1 in a low and frightened      
voice1 my servant4 ,the small caravan of
 a dozen men stood motionless1 as though
 riveted to the spot4 ,then it occurred 
to me that at the moment of starting on 
our ascent1 when already feeling        
fatigued1 ,i had entrusted my revolver  
to one of the carriers1 and my          
,winchester rifle to another4 ,now ,i   
felt bitter regret for having parted    
with my arms1 and asked in a low voice  
where the man was to whom ,i had given  
the rifle4 ,the howls became more and   
more violent1 and filled the echoes of  
the woods1 when suddenly a dull sound   
was heard1 like the fall of some body4  
,a minute later we heard the noise of a 
struggle and a cry of agony which       
mingled with the fierce roars of the    
starved animal4  ,saab1 take the gun1 ,i
 heard some one near by4 ,i seized      

feverishly the rifle1 but1 vain trouble1
 one could not see two steps before     
oneself4 ,a new cry1 followed by a      
smothered howling1 indicated to me      
vaguely the place of the struggle1      
toward which ,i crawled1 divided between
 the ardent desire to kill a panther and
 a horrible fear of being eaten alive4  
,no one dared to move2 only after five  
minutes it occurred to one of the       
carriers to light a match4 ,i then      
remembered the fear which feline animals
 exhibit at the presence of fire1 and   
ordered my men to gather two or three   
handfuls of brush1 which ,i set on fire4
 ,we then saw1 about ten steps from us1 
one of our carriers stretched out on the
 ground1 with his limbs frightfully     
lacerated by the claws of a huge        
panther4 ,the beast still lay upon him  
defiantly1 holding a piece of flesh in  
its mouth4 ,at its side1 gaped a box of 
wine broken open by its fall when the   
carrier was torn down4 ,hardly did ,i   
make a movement to bring the rifle to my

 shoulder1 when the panther raised      
itself1 and turned toward us while      
dropping part of its horrible meal4 ,one
 moment1 it appeared about to spring    
upon me1 then it suddenly wheeled1 and  
rending the air with a howl1 enough to  
freeze one's blood1 jumped into the     
midst of the thicket and disappeared4   
,my coolies1 whom an odious fear had all
 the time kept prostrated on the ground1
 recovered little by little from their  
fright4 ,keeping in readiness a few     
packages of dry grass and matches1 we   
hastened to reach the village ,haena1   
leaving behind the remains of the       
unfortunate ,hindu1 whose fate we feared
 sharing4  ,an hour later we had left   
the forest and entered the plain4 ,i    
ordered my tent erected under a very    
leafy plane tree1 and had a great fire  
made before it1 with a pile of wood1    
which was the only protection we could  
employ against the ferocious beasts     
whose howls continued to reach us from  
all directions4 ,in the forest my dog   

had pressed himself against me1 with his
 tail between his legs2 but once under  
the tent1 he suddenly recovered his     
watchfulness1 and barked incessantly the
 whole night1 being very careful1       
however1 not to step outside4 ,i spent a
 terrible night1 rifle in hand1         
listening to the concert of those       
diabolical howlings1 the echoes of which
 seemed to shake the defile4 ,some      
panthers approached our bivouac to      
answer the barking of ,pamir1 but dared 
not attack us4  ,i had left ,srinagar at
 the head of eleven carriers1 four of   
whom had to carry so many boxes of wine1
 four others bore my travelling effects2
 one my weapons1 another various        
utensils1 and finally a last1 who went  
errands or on reconnaissance4 ,his name 
was ,chicari1 which means he who        
accompanies the hunter and gathers the  
prey4 ,i discharged him in the morning  
on account of his cowardice and his     
profound ignorance of the country1 and  
only retained four carriers4 ,it was but

 slowly that ,i advanced toward the     
village of ,gounde4  ,how beautiful is  
nature in the ,sind pass1 and how much  
is it beloved by the hunters6 ,besides  
the great fallow deer1 you meet there   
the hind1 the stag1 the mountain sheep  
and an immense variety of birds1 among  
which ,i want to mention above all the  
golden pheasant1 and others of red or   
snow-white plumage1 very large          
partridges and immense eagles4  ,the    
villages situated along the ,sind do not
 shine by their dimensions4 ,they       
contain1 for the greatest part1 not more
 than ten to twenty huts of an extremely
 miserable appearance4 ,their           
inhabitants are clad in rags4 ,their    
cattle belongs to a very small race4  ,i
 crossed the river at ,sambal1 and      
stopped near the village ,gounde1 where 
,i procured relay horses4 ,in some      
villages they refused to hire horses to 
me2 ,i then threatened them with my     
whip1 which at once inspired respect and
 obedience2 my money accomplished the   

same end2 it inspired a servile         
obedience--not willingness--to obey my  
least orders4  ,stick and gold are the  
true sovereigns in the ,orient2 without 
them the ,very ,grand ,mogul would not  
have had any preponderance4  ,night     
began to descend1 and ,i was in a hurry 
to cross the defile which separates the 
villages ,gogangan and ,sonamarg4 ,the  
road is in very bad condition1 and the  
mountains are infested by beasts of prey
 which in the night descend into the    
very villages to seek their prey4 ,the  
country is delightful and very fertile2 
nevertheless1 but few colonists venture 
to settle here1 on account of the       
neighborhood of the panthers1 which come
 to the dooryards to seize domestic     
animals4  ,at the very exit of the      
defile1 near the village of ,tchokodar1 
or ,thajwas1 the half obscurity         
prevailing only permitted me to         
distinguish two dark masses crossing the
 road4 ,they were two big bears followed
 by a young one4 ,i was alone with my   

servant 7the caravan having loitered    
behind71 so ,i did not like to attack   
them with only one rifle2 but the long  
excursions which ,i had made on the     
mountain had strongly developed in me   
the sense of the hunter4 ,to jump from  
my horse1 shoot1 and1 without even      
verifying the result1 change quickly the
 cartridge1 was the affair of a second4 
,one bear was about to jump on me1 a    
second shot made it run away and        
disappear4 ,holding in my hand my loaded
 gun1 ,i approached with circumspection1
 the one at which ,i had aimed1 and     
found it laying on its flank1 dead1 with
 the little cub beside it4 ,another shot
 killed the little one1 after which ,i  
went to work to take off the two superb 
jet-black skins4  ,this incident made us
 lose two hours1 and night had          
completely set in when ,i erected my    
tent near ,tchokodar1 which ,i left at  
sunrise to gain ,baltal1 by following   
the course of the ,sind river4 ,at this 
place the ravishing landscape of the    

golden prairie terminates abruptly with 
a village of the same name 7,sona1 gold1
 and ,marg1 prairie74 ,the abrupt       
acclivity of ,zodgi-,la1 which we next  
surmounted1 attains an elevation of     
#aa1ejj feet1 on the other side of which
 the whole country assumes a severe and 
inhospitable character4 ,my hunting     
adventures closed before reaching       
,baltal4 ,from there ,i met on the road 
only wild goats4 ,in order to hunt1 ,i  
would have had to leave the grand route 
and to penetrate into the heart of the  
mountains full of mysteries4 ,i had     
neither the inclination nor the time to 
do so1 and1 therefore1 continued quietly
 my journey toward ,ladak4         99   
99       99       99       99  ,how     
violent the contrast ,i felt when       
passing from the laughing nature and    
beautiful population of ,kachmyr to the 
arid and forbidding rocks and the       
beardless and ugly inhabitants of       
,ladak6  ,the country into which ,i     
penetrated is situated at an altitude of

 #aa1jjj to #ab1jjj feet4 ,only at      
,karghil the level descends to #h1jjj   
feet4  ,the acclivity of ,zodgi-,la is  
very rough2 one must climb up an almost 
perpendicular rocky wall4 ,in certain   
places the road winds along upon rock   
ledges of only a metre in width1 below  
which the sight drops into unfathomable 
abysses4 ,may the ,lord preserve the    
traveller from a fall6 ,at one place1   
the way is upon long beams introduced   
into holes made in the rock1 like a     
bridge1 and covered up with earth4      
,brr6--,at the thought that a little    
stone might get loose and roll down the 
slope of the mountain1 or that a too    
strong oscillation of the beams could   
precipitate the whole structure into the
 abyss1 and with it him who had ventured
 upon the perilous path1 one feels like 
fainting more than once during this     
hazardous passage4  ,after crossing the 
glaciers we stopped in a valley and     
prepared to spend the night near a hut1 
a dismal place surrounded by eternal ice

 and snow4  ,from ,baltal the distances 
are determined by means of daks1 i4e41  
postal stations for mail service4 ,they 
are low huts1 about seven kilometres    
distant from each other4 ,a man is      
permanently established in each of these
 huts4 ,the postal service between      
,kachmyr and ,thibet is yet carried on  
in a very primitive form4 ,the letters  
are enclosed in a leather bag1 which is 
handed to the care of a carrier4 ,the   
latter runs rapidly over the seven      
kilometres assigned to him1 carrying on 
his back a basket which holds several of
 these bags1 which he delivers to       
another carrier1 who1 in his turn1      
accomplishes his task in an identical   
manner4 ,neither rain nor snow can      
arrest these carriers4 ,in this way the 
mail service is carried on between      
,kachmyr and ,thibet1 and vice versa    
once a week4 ,for each course the letter
 carrier is paid six annas 7twenty      
cents72 the same wages as is paid to the
 carriers of merchandise4 ,this sum ,i  

also paid to every one of my servants   
for carrying a ten times heavier load4  
,it makes one's heart ache to see the   
pale and tired-looking figures of these 
carriers2 but what is to be done8 ,it is
 the custom of the country4 ,the tea is 
brought from ,china by a similar system 
of transportation1 which is rapid and   
inexpensive4  ,in the village of        
,montaiyan1 ,i found again the          
,yarkandien caravan of pilgrims1 whom ,i
 had promised to accompany on their     
journey4 ,they recognized me from a     
distance1 and asked me to examine one of
 their men1 who had fallen sick4 ,i     
found him writhing in the agonies of an 
intense fever4 ,shaking my hands as a   
sign of despair1 ,i pointed to the      
heavens and gave them to understand that
 human will and science were now        
useless1 and that ,god alone could save 
him4 ,these people journeyed by small   
stages only2 ,i1 therefore1 left them   
and arrived in the evening at ,drass1   
situated at the bottom of a valley near 

a river of the same name4 ,near ,drass1 
a little fort of ancient construction1  
but freshly painted1 stands aloof1 under
 the guard of three ,sikhs of the       
,maharadja's army4  ,at ,drass1 my      
domicile was the post-house1 which is a 
station--and the only one--of an unique 
telegraph line from ,srinagar to the    
interior of the ,himalayas4 ,from that  
time on1 ,i no more had my tent put up  
each evening1 but stopped in the        
caravansarais2 places which1 though made
 repulsive by their dirt1 are kept warm 
by the enormous piles of wood burned in 
their fireplaces4  ,from ,drass to      
,karghil the landscape is unpleasing and
 monotonous1 if one excepts the         
marvellous effects of the rising and    
setting sun and the beautiful moonlight4
 ,apart from these the road is wearisome
 and abounding with dangers4 ,karghil is
 the principal place of the district1   
where the governor of the country       
resides4 ,its site is quite picturesque4
 ,two water courses1 the ,souron and the

 ,wakkha1 roll their noisy and turbulent
 waters among rocks and sunken snags of 
uprooted trees1 escaping from their     
respective defiles in the rocks1 to join
 in forming here the river ,souron1 upon
 the banks of which stands ,karghil4 ,a 
little fort1 garrisoned by two or three 
,sikhs1 shows its outlines at the       
junction of the streams4 ,provided with 
a horse1 ,i continued my journey at     
break of day1 entering now the province 
of ,ladak1 or ,little ,thibet4 ,i       
traversed a ricketty bridge1            
composed--like all the bridges of       
,kachmyr--of two long beams1 the ends of
 which were supported upon the banks and
 the floor made of a layer of fagots and
 sticks1 which imparted to the          
traveller1 at least the illusion of a   
suspension bridge4 ,soon afterward ,i   
climbed slowly up on a little plateau1  
which crosses the way at a distance of  
two kilometres1 to descend into the     
narrow valley of ,wakkha4 ,here there   
are several villages1 among which1 on   

the left shore1 is the very picturesque 
one called ,paskium4  ,here my feet trod
 ,buddhist ground4 ,the inhabitants are 
of a very simple and mild disposition1  
seemingly ignorant of quarreling4 ,women
 are very rare among them4 ,those of    
them whom ,i encountered were           
distinguished from the women ,i had     
hitherto seen in ,india or ,kachmyr1 by 
the air of gaiety and prosperity        
apparent in their countenances4 ,how    
could it be otherwise1 since each woman 
in this country has1 on an average1     
three to five husbands1 and possesses   
them in the most legitimate way in the  
world4 ,polyandry flourishes here4      
,however large a family may be1 there is
 but one woman in it4 ,if the family    
does not contain already more than two  
husbands1 a bachelor may share its      
advantages1 for a consideration4 ,the   
days sacred to each one of those        
husbands are determined in advance1 and 
all acquit themselves of their          
respective duties and respect each      

others' rights4 ,the men generally seem 
feeble1 with bent backs1 and do not live
 to old age4 ,during my travels in      
,ladak1 ,i only encountered one man so  
old that his hair was white4  ,from     
,karghil to the centre of ,ladak1 the   
road had a more cheerful aspect than    
that ,i had traversed before reaching   
,karghil1 its prospect being brightened 
by a number of little hamlets1 but trees
 and verdure were1 unfortunately1 rare4 
,twenty miles from ,karghil1 at the end 
of the defile formed by the rapid       
current of the ,wakkha1 is a little     
village called ,chargol1 in the centre  
of which stand three chapels1 decorated 
with lively colors 7t'horthenes1 to give
 them the name they bear in ,thibet74   
,below1 near the river1 are masses of   
rocks1 in the form of long and large    
walls1 upon which are thrown1 in        
apparent disorder1 flat stones of       
different colors and sizes4 ,upon these 
stones are engraved all sorts of        
prayers1 in ,ourd1 ,sanscrit and        

,thibetan1 and one can even find among  
them inscriptions in ,arabic characters4
 ,without the knowledge of my carriers1 
,i succeeded in taking away a few of    
these stones1 which are now in the      
palace of the ,trocadero4  ,along the   
way1 from ,chargol1 one finds frequently
 oblong mounds1 artificial              
constructions4 ,after sunrise1 with     
fresh horses1 ,i resumed my journey and 
stopped near the gonpa 7monastery7 of   
,moulbek1 which seems glued on the flank
 of an isolated rock4 ,below is the     
hamlet of ,wakkha1 and not far from     
there is to be seen another rock1 of    
very strange form1 which seems to have  
been placed where it stands by human    
hands4 ,in one side of it is cut a      
,buddha several metres in height4 ,upon 
it are several cylinders1 the turning of
 which serves for prayers4 ,they are a  
sort of wooden barrel1 draped with      
yellow or white fabrics1 and are        
attached to vertically planted stakes4  
,it requires only the least wind to make

 them turn4 ,the person who puts up one 
of these cylinders no longer feels it   
obligatory upon him to say his prayers1 
for all that devout believers can ask of
 ,god is written upon the cylinders4    
,seen from a distance this white painted
 monastery1 standing sharply out from   
the gray background of the rocks1 with  
all these whirling1 petticoated wheels1 
produce a strange effect in this dead   
country4 ,i left my horses in the hamlet
 of ,wakkha1 and1 followed by my        
servant1 walked toward the convent1     
which is reached by a narrow stairway   
cut in the rock4 ,at the top1 ,i was    
received by a very fat lama1 with a     
scanty1 straggling beard under his      
chin--a common characteristic of the    
,thibetan people--who was very ugly1 but
 very cordial4 ,his costume consisted of
 a yellow robe and a sort of big        
nightcap1 with projecting flaps above   
the ears1 of the same color4 ,he held in
 his hand a copper prayer-machine which1
 from time to time1 he shook with his   

left hand1 without at all permitting    
that exercise to interfere with his     
conversation4 ,it was his eternal       
prayer1 which he thus communicated to   
the wind1 so that by this element it    
should be borne to ,heaven4 ,we         
traversed a suite of low chambers1 upon 
the walls of which were images of       
,buddha1 of all sizes and made of all   
kinds of materials1 all alike covered by
 a thick layer of dust4 ,finally we     
reached an open terrace1 from which the 
eyes1 taking in the surrounding region1 
rested upon an inhospitable country1    
strewn with grayish rocks and traversed 
by only a single road1 which on both    
sides lost itself in the horizon4  ,when
 we were seated1 they brought us beer1  
made with hops1 called here ,tchang and 
brewed in the cloister4 ,it has a       
tendency to rapidly produce embonpoint  
upon the monks1 which is regarded as a  
sign of the particular favor of ,heaven4
  ,they spoke here the ,thibetan        
language4 ,the origin of this language  

is full of obscurity4 ,one thing is     
certain1 that a king of ,thibet1 a      
contemporary of ,mohammed1 undertook the
 creation of an universal language for  
all the disciples of ,buddha4 ,to this  
end he had simplified the ,sanscrit     
grammar1 composed an alphabet containing
 an infinite number of signs1 and thus  
laid the foundations of a language the  
pronunciation of which is one of the    
easiest and the writing the most        
complicated4 ,indeed1 in order to       
represent a sound one must employ not   
less than eight characters4 ,all the    
modern literature of ,thibet is written 
in this language4 ,the pure ,thibetan is
 only spoken in ,ladak and ,oriental    
,thibet4 ,in all other parts of the     
country are employed dialects formed by 
the mixture of this mother language with
 different idioms taken from the        
neighboring peoples of the various      
regions round about4 ,in the ordinary   
life of the ,thibetan1 there exists     
always two languages1 one of which is   

absolutely incomprehensible to the      
women1 while the other is spoken by the 
entire nation2 but only in the convents 
can be found the ,thibetan language in  
all its purity and integrity4  ,the     
lamas much prefer the visits of         
,europeans to those of ,musselmen1 and  
when ,i asked the one who received me   
why this was so1 he answered me3        
,musselmen have no point of contact at  
all with our religion4 ,only            
comparatively recently1 in their        
victorious campaign1 they have          
converted1 by force1 part of the        
,buddhists to ,islam4 ,it requires of us
 great efforts to bring back those      
,musselmen1 descendants of ,buddhists1  
into the path of the true ,god4 ,as     
regards the ,europeans1 it is quite a   
different affair4 ,not only do they     
profess the essential principles of     
monotheism1 but they are1 in a sense1   
adorers of ,buddha1 with almost the same
 rites as the lamas who inhabit ,thibet4
 ,the only fault of the ,christians is  

that after having adopted the great     
doctrines of ,buddha1 they have         
completely separated themselves from    
him1 and have created for themselves a  
different ,dalai-,lama4 ,our            
,dalai-,lama is the only one who has    
received the divine gift of seeing1 face
 to face1 the majesty of ,buddha1 and is
 empowered to serve as an intermediary  
between earth and heaven4  ,which       
,dalai-,lama of the ,christians do you  
refer to8 ,i asked him2 we have one1 the
 ,son of ,god1 to whom we address       
directly our fervent prayers1 and to him
 alone we recur to intercede with our   
,one and ,indivisible ,god4  ,it is not 
him of whom it is a question1 ,sahib1 he
 replied4 ,we1 too1 respect him1 whom we
 reverence as son of the ,one and       
,indivisible ,god1 but we do not see in 
him the ,only ,son1 but the excellent   
being who was chosen among all4 ,buddha1
 indeed1 has incarnated himself1 with   
his divine nature1 in the person of the 
sacred ,issa1 who1 without employing    

fire or iron1 has gone forth to         
propagate our true and great religion   
among all the world4 ,him whom ,i meant 
was your terrestrial ,dalai-,lama2 he to
 whom you have given the title of       
',father of the ,church4' ,that is a    
great sin4 ,may he be brought back1 with
 the flock1 who are now in a bad road1  
piously added the lama1 giving another  
twirl to his prayer-machine4  ,i        
understood now that he alluded to the   
,pope4 ,you have told me that a son of  
,buddha1 ,issa1 the elect among all1 had
 spread your religion on the ,earth4    
,who is he8 ,i asked4  ,at this question
 the lama's eyes opened wide2 he looked 
at me with astonishment and pronounced  
some words ,i could not catch1 murmuring
 in an unintelligible way4 ,issa1 he    
finally replied1 is a great prophet1 one
 of the first after the twenty-two      
,buddhas4 ,he is greater than any one of
 all the ,dalai-,lamas1 for he          
constitutes part of the spirituality of 
our ,lord4 ,it is he who has instructed 

you2 he who brought back into the bosom 
of ,god the frivolous and wicked souls2 
he who made you worthy of the           
beneficence of the ,creator1 who has    
ordained that each being should know    
good and evil4 ,his name and his acts   
have been chronicled in our sacred      
writings1 and when reading how his great
 life passed away in the midst of an    
erring people1 we weep for the horrible 
sin of the heathen who murdered him1    
after subjecting him to torture4  ,i was
 struck by this recital of the lama4    
,the prophet ,issa--his tortures and    
death--our ,christian ,dalai-,lama--the 
,buddhist recognizing ,christianity--all
 these made me think more and more of   
,jesus ,christ4 ,i asked my interpreter 
not to lose a single word of what the   
lama told me4  ,where can those writings
 be found1 and who compiled them8 ,i    
asked the monk4  ,the principal         
scrolls--which were written in ,india   
and ,nepaul1 at different epochs1 as the
 events happened--are in ,lhassa2       

several thousands in number4 ,in some   
great convents are to be found copies1  
which the lamas1 during their sojourn in
 ,lhassa1 have made1 at various times1  
and have then given to their cloisters  
as souvenirs of the period they spent   
with the ,dalai-,lama4  ,but you1       
yourselves2 do you not possess copies of
 the scrolls bearing upon the prophet   
,issa8  ,we have not4 ,our convent is   
insignificant1 and since its foundation 
our successive lamas have had only a few
 hundred manuscripts in their library4  
,the great cloisters have several       
thousands of them2 but they are sacred  
things which will not1 anywhere1 be     
shown to you4  ,we spoke together a few 
minutes longer1 after which ,i went     
home1 all the while thinking of the     
lama's statements4 ,issa1 a prophet of  
the ,buddhists6 ,but1 how could this be8
 ,of ,jewish origin1 he lived in        
,palestine and in ,egypt2 and the       
,gospels do not contain one word1 not   
even the least allusion1 to the part    

which ,buddhism should have played in   
the education of ,jesus4  ,i made up my 
mind to visit all the convents of       
,thibet1 in the hope of gathering fuller
 information upon the prophet ,issa1 and
 perhaps copies of the chronicles       
bearing upon this subject4         99   
99       99       99       99  ,we      
traversed the ,namykala ,pass1 at       
#cj1jjj feet of altitude1 whence we     
descended into the valley of the ,river 
,salinoumah4 ,turning southward1 we     
gained ,karbou1 leaving behind us1 on   
the opposite bank1 numerous villages1   
among other1 ,chagdoom1 which is at the 
top of a rock1 an extremely imposing    
sight4 ,its houses are white and have a 
sort of festive look1 with their two and
 three stories4 ,this1 by the way1 is a 
common peculiarity of all the villages  
of ,ladak4 ,the eye of the ,european1   
travelling in ,kachmyr1 would soon lose 
sight of all architecture to which he   
had been accustomed4 ,in ,ladak1 on the 
contrary1 he would be agreeably         

surprised at seeing the little two and  
three-story houses1 reminders to him of 
those in ,european provinces4 ,near the 
city of ,karbou1 upon two perpendicular 
rocks1 one sees the ruins of a little   
town or village4 ,a tempest and an      
earthquake are said to have shaken down 
its walls1 the solidity of which seems  
to have been exceptional4  ,the next day
 ,i traversed the ,fotu-,la ,pass1 at an
 altitude of #ac1ejj feet4 ,at its      
summit stands a little t'horthene       
7chapel74 ,thence1 following the dry bed
 of a stream1 ,i descended to the hamlet
 of ,lamayure1 the sudden appearance of 
which is a surprise to the traveller4 ,a
 convent1 which seems grafted on the    
side of the rock1 or held there in some 
miraculous way1 dominates the village4  
,stairs are unknown in this cloister4   
,in order to pass from one story of it  
to another1 ropes are used4             
,communication with the world outside is
 through a labyrinth of passages in the 
rock4 ,under the windows of the         

convent--which make one think of birds' 
nests on the face of a cliff---is a     
little inn1 the rooms of which are      
little inviting4 ,hardly had ,i         
stretched myself on the carpet in one of
 them1 when the monks1 dressed in their 
yellow robes1 filled the apartment1     
bothered me with questions as to whence 
,i came1 the purpose of my coming1 where
 ,i was going1 and so on1 finally       
inviting me to come and see them4  ,in  
spite of my fatigue ,i accepted their   
invitation and set out with them1 to    
climb up the excavated passages in the  
rock1 which were encumbered with an     
infinity of prayer cylinders and wheels1
 which ,i could not but touch and set   
turning as ,i brushed past them4 ,they  
are placed there that they may be so    
turned1 saving to the passers-by the    
time they might otherwise lose in saying
 their prayers--as if their affairs were
 so absorbing1 and their time so        
precious1 that they could not find      
leisure to pray4 ,many pious ,buddhists 

use for this purpose an apparatus       
arranged to be turned by the current of 
a stream4 ,i have seen a long row of    
cylinders1 provided with their prayer   
formulas1 placed along a river bank1 in 
such a way that the water kept them     
constantly in motion1 this ingenious    
device freeing the proprietors from any 
further obligation to say prayers       
themselves4  ,i sat down on a bench in  
the hall1 where semi-obscurity reigned4 
,the walls were garnished with little   
statues of ,buddha1 books and           
prayer-wheels4 ,the loquacious lamas    
began explaining to me the significance 
of each object4  ,and those books8 ,i   
asked them2 they1 no doubt1 have        
reference to religion4  ,yes1 sir4      
,these are a few religious volumes which
 deal with the primary and principal    
rites of the life common to all4 ,we    
possess several parts of the words of   
,buddha consecrated to the ,great and   
,indivisible ,divine ,being1 and to all 
that issue from his hands4  ,is there   

not1 among those books1 some account of 
the prophet ,issa8  ,no1 sir1 answered  
the monk4 ,we only possess a few        
principal treatises relating to the     
observance of the religious rites4 ,as  
for the biographies of our saints1 they 
are collected in ,lhassa4 ,there are    
even great cloisters which have not had 
the time to procure them4 ,before coming
 to this gonpa1 ,i was for several years
 in a great convent on the other side of
 ,ladak1 and have seen there thousands  
of books1 and scrolls copied out of     
various books by the lamas of the       
monastery4  ,by some further            
interrogation ,i learned that the       
convent in question was near ,leh1 but  
my persistent inquiries had the effect  
of exciting the suspicions of the lamas4
 ,they showed me the way out with       
evident pleasure1 and regaining my room1
 ,i fell asleep--after a light          
lunch--leaving orders with my ,hindu to 
inform himself in a skillful way1 from  
some of the younger lamas of the        

convent1 about the monastery in which   
their chief had lived before coming to  
,lamayure4  ,in the morning1 when we set
 forth on our journey1 the ,hindu told  
me that he could get nothing from the   
lamas1 who were very reticent4 ,i will  
not stop to describe the life of the    
monks in those convents1 for it is the  
same in all the cloisters of ,ladak4 ,i 
have seen the celebrated monastery of   
,leh--of which ,i shall have to speak   
later on--and learned there the strange 
existences the monks and religious      
people lead1 which is everywhere the    
same4 ,in ,lamayure commences a         
declivity which1 through a steep1 narrow
 and sombre gorge1 extends toward       
,india4  ,without having the least idea 
of the dangers which the descent        
presented1 ,i sent my carriers in       
advance and started on a route1 rather  
pleasant at the outset1 which passes    
between the brown clay hills1 but soon  
it produced upon me the most depressing 
effect1 as though ,i was traversing a   

gloomy subterranean passage4 ,then the  
road came out on the flank of the       
mountain1 above a terrible abyss4 ,if a 
rider had met me1 we could not possibly 
have passed each other1 the way was so  
narrow4 ,all description would fail to  
convey a sense of the grandeur and wild 
beauty of this caon1 the summit of the  
walls of which seemed to reach the sky4 
,at some points it became so narrow that
 from my saddle ,i could1 with my cane1 
touch the opposite rock4 ,at other      
places1 death might be fancied looking  
up expectantly1 from the abyss1 at the  
traveller4 ,it was too late to dismount4
 ,in entering alone this gorge1 ,i had  
not the faintest idea that ,i would have
 occasion to regret my foolish          
imprudence4 ,i had not realized its     
character4 ,it was simply an enormous   
crevasse1 rent by some ,titanic throe of
 nature1 some tremendous earthquake1    
which had split the granite mountain4   
,in its bottom ,i could just distinguish
 a hardly perceptible white thread1 an  

impetuous torrent1 the dull roar of     
which filled the defile with mysterious 
and impressive sounds4  ,far overhead   
extended1 narrow and sinuously1 a blue  
ribbon1 the only glimpse of the         
celestial world that the frowning       
granite walls permitted to be seen4 ,it 
was a thrilling pleasure1 this majestic 
view of nature4 ,at the same time1 its  
rugged severity1 the vastness of its    
proportions1 the deathly silence only   
invaded by the ominous murmur from the  
depths beneath1 all together filled me  
with an unconquerable depression4 ,i had
 about eight miles in which to          
experience these sensations1 at once    
sweet and painful4 ,then1 turning to the
 right1 our little caravan reached a    
small valley1 almost surrounded by      
precipitous granite rocks1 which        
mirrored themselves in the ,indus4 ,on  
the bank of the river stands the little 
fortress ,khalsi1 a celebrated          
fortification dating from the epoch of  
the ,musselman invasion1 by which runs  

the wild road from ,kachmyr to ,thibet4 
,we crossed the ,indus on an almost     
suspended bridge which led directly to  
the door of the fortress1 thus          
impossible of evasion4 ,rapidly we      
traversed the valley1 then the village  
of ,khalsi1 for ,i was anxious to spend 
the night in the hamlet of ,snowely1    
which is placed upon terraces descending
 to the ,indus4 ,the two following days 
,i travelled tranquilly and without any 
difficulties to overcome1 along the     
shore of the ,indus1 in a picturesque   
country--which brought me to ,leh1 the  
capital of ,ladak4  ,while traversing   
the little valley of ,saspoula1 at a    
distance of several kilometres from the 
village of the same name1 ,i found      
t'horthenes and two cloisters1 above one
 of which floated the ,french flag4     
,later on1 ,i learned that a ,french    
engineer had presented the flag to the  
monks1 who displayed it simply as a     
decoration of their building4  ,i passed
 the night at ,saspoula and certainly   

did not forget to visit the cloisters1  
seeing there for the tenth time the     
omnipresent dust-covered images of      
,buddha2 the flags and banners heaped in
 a corner2 ugly masks on the floor2     
books and papyrus rolls heaped together 
without order or care1 and the          
inevitable abundance of prayer-wheels4  
,the lamas demonstrated a particular    
pleasure in exhibiting these things1    
doing it with the air of shopmen        
displaying their goods1 with very little
 care for the degree of interest the    
traveller may take in them4 ,we must    
show everything1 in the hope that the   
sight alone of these sacred objects will
 force the traveller to believe in the  
divine grandeur of the human soul4      
,respecting the prophet ,issa1 they gave
 me the same account ,i already had1 and
 ,i learned1 what ,i had known before1  
that the books which could instruct me  
about him were at ,lhassa1 and that only
 the great monasteries possessed some   
copies4 ,i did not think any more of    

passing ,kara-koroum1 but only of       
finding the history of the prophet      
,issa1 which would1 perhaps1 bring to   
light the entire life of the best of    
men1 and complete the rather vague      
information which the ,gospels afford us
 about him4  ,not far from ,leh1 and at 
the entrance of the valley of the same  
name1 our road passed near an isolated  
rock1 on the top of which were          
constructed a fort--with two towers and 
without garrison--and a little convent  
named ,pitak4 ,a mountain1 #aj1ejj feet 
high1 protects the entrance to ,thibet4 
,there the road makes a sudden turn     
toward the north1 in the direction of   
,leh1 six miles from ,pitak and a       
thousand feet higher4 ,immense granite  
mountains tower above ,leh1 to a height 
of #ah1jjj or #ai1jjj feet1 their crests
 covered with eternal snow4 ,the city   
itself1 surrounded by a girdle of       
stunted aspen trees1 rises upon         
successive terraces1 which are dominated
 by an old fort and the palaces of the  

ancient sovereigns of ,ladak4 ,toward   
evening ,i made my entrance into ,leh1  
and stopped at a bengalow constructed   
especially for ,europeans1 whom the road
 from ,india brings here in the hunting 
season4     ,ladak   ,ladak formerly was
 part of ,great ,thibet4 ,the powerful  
invading forces from the north which    
traversed the country to conquer        
,kachmyr1 and the wars of which ,ladak  
was the theatre1 not only reduced it to 
misery1 but eventually subtracted it    
from the political domination of        
,lhassa1 and made it the prey of one    
conqueror after another4 ,the           
,musselmen1 who seized ,kachmyr and     
,ladak at a remote epoch1 converted by  
force the poor inhabitants of old       
,thibet to the faith of ,islam4 ,the    
political existence of ,ladak ended with
 the annexation of this country to      
,kachmyr by the siks1 which1 however1   
permitted the ,ladakians to return to   
their ancient beliefs4 ,two-thirds of   
the inhabitants took advantage of this  

opportunity to rebuild their gonpas and 
take up their past life anew4 ,only the 
,baltistans remained ,musselman         
schttes--a sect to which the conquerors 
of the country had belonged4 ,they1     
however1 have only conserved a vague    
shadow of ,islamism1 the character of   
which manifests itself in their         
ceremonials and in the polygamy which   
they practice4 ,some lamas affirmed to  
me that they did not despair of one day 
bringing them back to the faith of their
 ancestors4  ,from the religious point  
of view ,ladak is a dependency of       
,lhassa1 the capital of ,thibet and the 
place of residence of the ,dalai-,lama4 
,in ,lhassa are located the principal   
,khoutoukhtes1 or ,supreme ,lamas1 and  
the ,chogzots1 or administrators4       
,politically1 it is under the authority 
of the ,maharadja of ,kachmyr1 who is   
represented there by a governor4  ,the  
inhabitants of ,ladak belong to the     
,chinese-,touranian race1 and are       
divided into ,ladakians and ,tchampas4  

,the former lead a sedentary existence1 
building villages of two-story houses   
along the narrow valleys1 are cleanly in
 their habits1 and cultivators of the   
soil4 ,they are excessively ugly2 thin1 
with stooping figures and small heads   
set deep between their shoulders2 their 
cheek bones salient1 foreheads narrow1  
eyes black and brilliant1 as are those  
of all the ,mongol race2 noses flat1    
mouths large and thin-lipped2 and from  
their small chins1 very thinly garnished
 by a few hairs1 deep wrinkles extend   
upward furrowing their hollow cheeks4   
,to all this1 add a close-shaven head   
with only a little bristling fringe of  
hair1 and you will have the general     
type1 not alone of ,ladak1 but of entire
 ,thibet4  ,the women are also of small 
stature1 and have exceedingly prominent 
cheek bones1 but seem to be of much more
 robust constitution4 ,a healthy red    
tinges their cheeks and sympathetic     
smiles linger upon their lips4 ,they    
have good dispositions1 joyous          

inclinations1 and are fond of laughing4 
,the severity of the climate and        
rudeness of the country1 do not permit  
to the ,ladakians much latitude in      
quality and colors of costume4 ,they    
wear gowns of simple gray linen and     
coarse dull-hued clothing of their own  
manufacture4 ,the pantaloons of the men 
only descend to their knees4 ,people in 
good circumstances wear1 in addition to 
the ordinary dress1 the choga1 a sort of
 overcoat which is draped on the back   
when not wrapped around the figure4 ,in 
winter they wear fur caps1 with big ear 
flaps1 and in summer cover their heads  
with a sort of cloth hood1 the top of   
which dangles on one side1 like a       
,phrygian cap4 ,their shoes are made of 
felt and covered with leather4 ,a whole 
arsenal of little things hangs down from
 their belts1 among which you will find 
a needle case1 a knife1 a pen and       
inkstand1 a tobacco pouch1 a pipe1 and a
 diminutive specimen of the omnipresent 
prayer-cylinder4  ,the ,thibetan men are

 generally so lazy1 that if a braid of  
hair happens to become loose1 it is not 
tressed up again for three months1 and  
when once a shirt is put on the body1 it
 is not again taken off until it falls  
to pieces4 ,their overcoats are always  
unclean1 and1 on the back1 one may      
contemplate a long oily stripe imprinted
 by the braid of hair1 which is         
carefully greased every day4 ,they wash 
themselves once a year1 but even then do
 not do so voluntarily1 but because     
compelled by law4 ,they emit such a     
terrible stench that one avoids1 as much
 as possible1 being near them4  ,the    
,thibetan women1 on the contrary1 are   
very fond of cleanliness and order4     
,they wash themselves daily and as often
 as may be needful4 ,short and clean    
chemises hide their dazzling white      
necks4 ,the ,thibetan woman throws on   
her round shoulders a red jacket1 the   
flaps of which are covered by tight     
pantaloons of green or red cloth1 made  
in such a manner as to puff up and so   

protect the legs against the cold4 ,she 
wears embroidered red half boots1       
trimmed and lined with fur4 ,a large    
cloth petticoat with numerous folds     
completes her home toilet4 ,her hair is 
arranged in thin braids1 to which1 by   
means of pins1 a large piece of floating
 cloth is attached1--which reminds one  
of the headdress so common in ,italy4   
,underneath this sort of veil are       
suspended a variety of various colored  
pebbles1 coins and pieces of metal4 ,the
 ears are covered by flaps made of cloth
 or fur4 ,a furred sheepskin covers the 
back1 poor women contenting themselves  
with a simple plain skin of the animal1 
while wealthy ladies wear veritable     
cloaks1 lined with red cloth and adorned
 with gold fringes4  ,the ,ladak woman1 
whether walking in the streets or       
visiting her neighbors1 always carries  
upon her back a conical basket1 the     
smaller end of which is toward the      
ground4 ,they fill it with the dung of  
horses or cows1 which constitute the    

combustible of the country4 ,every woman
 has money of her own1 and spends it for
 jewelry4 ,generally she purchases1 at a
 small expense1 large pieces of         
turquoise1 which are added to the       
bizarre ornaments of her headdress4 ,i  
have seen pieces so worn which weighed  
nearly five pounds4 ,the ,ladak woman   
occupies a social position for which she
 is envied by all women of the ,orient4 
,she is free and respected4 ,with the   
exception of some rural work1 she passes
 the greatest part of her time in       
visiting4 ,it must1 however1 be added   
that women's gossip is here a perfectly 
unknown thing4  ,the settled population 
of ,ladak is engaged in agriculture1 but
 they own so little land 7the share of  
each may amount to about eight acres7   
that the revenue drawn from it is       
insufficient to provide them with the   
barest necessities and does not permit  
them to pay taxes4 ,manual occupations  
are generally despised4 ,artisans and   
musicians form the lowest class of      

society4 ,the name by which they are    
designated is ,bem1 and people are very 
careful not to contract any alliance    
with them4 ,the hours of leisure left by
 rural work are spent in hunting the    
wild sheep of ,thibet1 the skins of     
which are highly valued in ,india4 ,the 
poorest1 i4e41 those who have not the   
means to purchase arms for hunting1 hire
 themselves as coolies4 ,this is also an
 occupation of women1 who are very      
capable of enduring arduous toil4 ,they 
are healthier than their husbands1 whose
 laziness goes so far that1 careless of 
cold or heat1 they are capable of       
spending a whole night in the open air  
on a bed of stones rather than take the 
trouble to go to bed4  ,polyandry 7which
 ,i shall treat later more fully7 causes
 the formation of very large families1  
who1 in common1 cultivate their jointly 
possessed lands1 with the assistance of 
yaks1 zos and zomos 7oxen and cows74 ,a 
member of a family cannot detach himself
 from it1 and when he dies1 his share   

reverts to the survivors in common4     
,they sow but little wheat and the grain
 is very small1 owing to the severity of
 the climate4 ,they also harvest barley1
 which they pulverize before selling4   
,when work in the field is ended1 all   
male inhabitants go to gather on the    
mountain a wild herb called enoriota1   
and large thorn bushes or dama1 which   
are used as fuel1 since combustibles are
 scarce in ,ladak4 ,you see there       
neither trees nor gardens1 and only     
exceptionally thin clumps of willows and
 poplars grow on the shores of the      
rivers4 ,near the villages are also     
found some aspen trees2 but1 on account 
of the unfertility of the ground1       
arboriculture is unknown and gardening  
is little successful4  ,the absence of  
wood is especially noticeable in the    
buildings1 which are made of sun-dried  
bricks1 or1 more frequently1 of stones  
of medium size which are agglomerated   
with a kind of mortar composed of clay  
and chopped straw4 ,the houses of the   

settled inhabitants are two stories     
high1 their fronts whitewashed1 and     
their window-sashes painted with lively 
colors4 ,the flat roof forms a terrace  
which is decorated with wild flowers1   
and here1 during good weather1 the      
inhabitants spend much of their time    
contemplating nature1 or turning their  
prayer-wheels4 ,every dwelling-house is 
composed of many rooms2 among them      
always one of superior size1 the walls  
of which are decorated with superb      
fur-skins1 and which is reserved for    
visitors4 ,in the other rooms are beds  
and other furniture4 ,rich people       
possess1 moreover1 a special room filled
 with all kinds of idols1 and set apart 
as a place of worship4  ,life here is   
very regular4 ,they eat anything        
attainable1 without much choice2 the    
principal nourishment of the ,ladak     
people1 however1 being exceedingly      
simple4 ,their breakfast consists of a  
piece of rye bread4 ,at dinner1 they    
serve on the table a bowl with meal into

 which lukewarm water is stirred with   
little rods until the mixture assumes   
the consistency of thick paste4 ,from   
this1 small portions are scooped out and
 eaten with milk4 ,in the evening1 bread
 and tea are served4 ,meat is a         
superfluous luxury4 ,only the hunters   
introduce some variety in their         
alimentation1 by eating the meat of wild
 sheep1 eagles or pheasants1 which are  
very common in this country4  ,during   
the day1 on every excuse and            
opportunity1 they drink tchang1 a kind  
of pale1 unfermented beer4  ,if it      
happens that a ,ladakian1 mounted on a  
pony 7such privileged people are very   
rare71 goes to seek work in the         
surrounding country1 he provides himself
 with a small stock of meal2 when dinner
 time comes1 he descends to a river or  
spring1 mixes with water1 in a wooden   
cup that he always has with him1 some of
 the meal1 swallows the simple          
refreshment and washes it down with     
water4  ,the ,tchampas1 or nomads1 who  

constitute the other part of ,ladak's   
population1 are rougher1 and much poorer
 than the settled population4 ,they are1
 for the most part1 hunters1 who        
completely neglect agriculture4         
,although they profess the ,buddhistic  
religion1 they never frequent the       
cloisters unless in want of meal1 which 
they obtain in exchange for their       
venison4 ,they mostly camp in tents on  
the summits of the mountains1 where the 
cold is very great4 ,while the properly 
called ,ladakians are peaceable1 very   
desirous of learning1 of an incarnated  
laziness1 and are never known to tell   
untruth2 the ,tchampas1 on the contrary1
 are very irascible1 extremely lively1  
great liars and profess a great disdain 
for the convents4  ,among them lives the
 small population of ,khombas1 wanderers
 from the vicinity of ,lhassa1 who lead 
the miserable existence of a troupe of  
begging gipsies on the highways4        
,incapable of any work whatever1        
speaking a language not spoken in the   

country where they beg for their        
subsistence1 they are the objects of    
general contempt1 and are only tolerated
 out of pity for their deplorable       
condition1 when hunger drives their     
mendicant bands to seek alms in the     
villages4         99       99       99  
99       99  ,polyandry1 which is       
universally prevalent here1 of course   
interested my curiosity4 ,this          
institution is1 by the way1 not the     
outcome of ,buddha's doctrines4         
,polyandry existed long before the      
advent of ,buddha4 ,it assumed          
considerable proportions in ,india1     
where it constituted one of the most    
effective means for checking the growth 
of a population which tends to constant 
increase1 an economic danger which is   
even yet combatted by the abominable    
custom of killing newborn female        
children1 which causes terrible ravages 
in the child-life of ,india4 ,the       
efforts made by the ,english in their   
enactments against the suppression of   

the future mothers have proved futile   
and fruitless4 ,manu himself established
 polyandry as a law1 and ,buddhist      
preachers1 who had renounced ,brahminism
 and preached the use of opium1 imported
 this custom into ,ceylon1 ,thibet1     
,corea1 and the country of the ,moguls4 
,for a long time suppressed in ,china1  
polyandry1 which flourishes in ,thibet  
and ,ceylon1 is also met with among the 
,kalmonks1 between ,todas in ,southern  
,india1 and ,nairs on the coast of      
,malabar4 ,traces of this strange       
constitution of the family are also to  
be found with the ,tasmanians and the   
,irquois ,indians in ,north ,america4   
,polyandry1 by the way1 has even        
flourished in ,europe1 if we may believe
 ,csar1 who1 in his ,de ,bello ,gallico1
 book ,v41 page #ag1 writes3 ,uxores    
habent deni duodenique inter se         
communes1 et maxime fratres cum         
fratribus et parentes cum liberis4  ,in 
view of all this it is impossible to    
hold any religion responsible for the   

existence of the institution of         
polyandry4 ,in ,thibet it can be        
explained by motives of an economical   
nature2 the small quantity of arable    
land falling to the share of each       
inhabitant4 ,in order to support the    
#a1ejj1jjj inhabitants distributed in   
,thibet1 upon a surface of #a1bjj1jjj   
square kilometres1 the ,buddhists were  
forced to adopt polyandry4 ,moreover1   
each family is bound to enter one of its
 members in a religious order4 ,the     
firstborn is consecrated to a gonpa1    
which is inevitably found upon an       
elevation1 at the entrance of every     
village4 ,as soon as the child attains  
the age of eighteen years1 he is        
entrusted to the caravans which pass    
,lhassa1 where he remains from eight to 
fifteen years as a novice1 in one of the
 gonpas which are near the city4 ,there 
he learns to read and write1 is taught  
the religious rites and studies the     
sacred parchments written in the ,pali  
language--which formerly used to be the 

language of the country of ,maguada1    
where1 according to tradition1 ,buddha  
was born4  ,the oldest brother remaining
 in a family chooses a wife1 who becomes
 common to his brothers4 ,the choice of 
the bride and the nuptial ceremonies are
 most rudimentary4 ,when a wife and her 
husband have decided upon the marriage  
of a son1 the brother who possesses the 
right of choice1 pays a visit to a      
neighboring family in which there is a  
marriageable daughter4  ,the first and  
second visits are spent in more or less 
indifferent conversations1 blended with 
frequent libations of tchang1 and on the
 third visit only does the young man    
declare his intention to take a wife4   
,upon this the girl is formally         
introduced to him4 ,she is generally not
 unknown to the wooer1 as1 in ,ladak1   
women never veil their faces4  ,a girl  
cannot be married without her consent4  
,when the young man is accepted1 he     
takes his bride to his house1 and she   
becomes his wife and also the wife of   

all his brothers4 ,a family which has an
 only son sends him to a woman who has  
no more than two or three husbands1 and 
he offers himself to her as a fourth    
husband4 ,such an offer is seldom       
declined1 and the young man settles in  
the new family4  ,the newly married     
remain with the parents of the husbands1
 until the young wife bears her first   
child4 ,the day after that event1 the   
grandparents of the infant make over the
 bulk of their fortune to the new       
family1 and1 abandoning the old home to 
them1 seek other shelter4  ,sometimes   
marriages are contracted between youth  
who have not reached a marriageable age1
 but in such event1 the married couple  
are made to live apart1 until they have 
attained and even passed the age        
required4 ,an unmarried girl who becomes
 enceinte1 far from being exposed to the
 scorn of every one1 is shown the       
highest respect2 for she is demonstrated
 fruitful1 and men eagerly seek her in  
marriage4 ,a wife has the unquestioned  

right of having an unlimited number of  
husbands and lovers4 ,if she likes a    
young man1 she takes him home1 announces
 that he has been chosen by her as a    
jingtuh 7a lover71 and endows him with  
all the personal rights of a husband1   
which situation is accepted by her      
temporarily supplanted husbands with a  
certain philosophic pleasure1 which is  
the more pronounced if their wife has   
proved sterile during the three first   
years of her marriage4  ,they certainly 
have here not even a vague idea of      
jealousy4 ,the ,thibetan's blood is too 
cold to know love1 which1 for him1 would
 be almost an anachronism2 if indeed he 
were not conscious that the sentiment of
 the entire community would be against  
him1 as a flagrant violator of popular  
usage and established rights1 in        
restraining the freedom of the women4   
,the selfish enjoyment of love would be1
 in their eyes1 an unjustifiable luxury4
  ,in case of a husband's absence1 his  
place may be offered to a bachelor or a 

widower4 ,the latter are here in the    
minority1 since the wife generally      
survives her feeble husbands4 ,sometimes
 a ,buddhist traveller1 whom his affairs
 bring to the village1 is chosen for    
this office4 ,a husband who travels1 or 
seeks for work in the neighboring       
country1 at every stop takes advantage  
of his co-religionists' hospitality1 who
 offer him their own wives4 ,the        
husbands of a sterile woman exert       
themselves to find opportunities for    
hospitality1 which may happily eventuate
 in a change in her condition1 that they
 may be made happy fathers4  ,the wife  
enjoys the general esteem1 is ever of a 
cheerful disposition1 takes part in     
everything that is going on1 goes and   
comes without any restriction1 anywhere 
and everywhere she pleases1 with the    
exception of the principal prayer-room  
of the monastery1 entrance into which is
 formally prohibited to her4  ,children 
know only their mother1 and do not feel 
the least affection for their fathers1  

for the simple reason that they have so 
many4 ,without approving polyandry1 ,i  
could not well blame ,thibet for this   
institution1 since without it1 the      
population would prodigiously increase4 
,famine and misery would fall upon the  
whole nation1 with all the sinister     
sequell of murder and theft1 crimes so  
far absolutely unknown in the whole     
country4     ,a ,festival in a ,gonpa   
,leh1 the capital of ,ladak1 is a little
 town of #e1jjj inhabitants1 who live in
 white1 two-story houses1 upon two or   
three streets1 principally4 ,in its     
centre is the square of the bazaar1     
where the merchants of ,india1 ,china1  
,turkestan1 ,kachmyr and ,thibet1 come  
to exchange their products for the      
,thibetan gold4 ,here the natives       
provide themselves with cloths for      
themselves and their monks1 and various 
objects of real necessity4  ,an old     
uninhabited palace rises upon a hill    
which dominates the town4 ,fronting the 
central square is a vast building1 two  

stories in height1 the residence of the 
governor of ,ladak1 the ,vizier         
,souradjbal--a very amiable and         
universally popular ,pendjaban1 who has 
received in ,london the degree of       
,doctor of ,philosophy4  ,to entertain  
me1 during my sojourn in ,leh1 the      
governor arranged1 on the bazaar square1
 a game of polo--the national sport of  
the ,thibetans1 which the ,english have 
adopted and introduced into ,europe4 ,in
 the evening1 after the game1 the people
 executed dances and played games before
 the governor's residence4 ,large       
bonfires illuminated the scene1 lighting
 up the throng of inhabitants1 who      
formed a great circle about the         
performers4 ,the latter1 in considerable
 numbers1 disguised as animals1 devils  
and sorcerers1 jumped and contorted     
themselves in rhythmic dances timed to  
the measure of the monotonous and       
unpleasing music made by two long       
trumpets and a drum4  ,the infernal     
racket and shouting of the crowd wearied

 me4 ,the performance ended with some   
graceful dances by ,thibetan women1 who 
spun upon their heels1 swaying to and   
fro1 and1 in passing before the         
spectators in the windows of the        
residence1 greeted us by the clashing   
together of the copper and ivory        
bracelets on their crossed wrists4  ,the
 next day1 at an early hour1 ,i repaired
 to the great ,himis convent1 which1 a  
little distance from ,leh1 is elevated  
upon the top of a great rock1 on a      
picturesque site1 commanding the valley 
of the ,indies4 ,it is one of the       
principal monasteries of the country1   
and is maintained by the gifts of the   
people and the subsidies it receives    
from ,lhassa4 ,on the road leading to   
it1 beyond the bridge crossing the      
,indus1 and in the vicinity of the      
villages lining the way1 one finds heaps
 of stones bearing engraved             
inscriptions1 such as have already been 
described1 and t'horthenes4 ,at these   
places1 our guides were very careful to 

turn to the right4 ,i wished to turn my 
horse to the left1 but the ,ladakians   
made him go back and led him by his     
halter to the right1 explaining to me   
that such was their established usage4  
,i found it impossible to learn the     
origin or reason of this custom4  ,above
 the gonpa rises a battlemented tower1  
visible from a great distance4 ,we      
climbed1 on foot1 to the level on which 
the edifice stands and found ourselves  
confronted by a large door1 painted in  
brilliant colors1 the portal of a vast  
two-story building enclosing a court    
paved with little pebbles4 ,to the      
right1 in one of the angles of the      
court1 is another huge painted door1    
adorned with big copper rings4 ,it is   
the entrance to the principal temple1   
which is decorated with paintings of the
 principal gods1 and contains a great   
statue of ,buddha and a multitude of    
sacred statuettes4 ,to the left1 upon a 
verandah1 was placed an immense         
prayer-cylinder4 ,all the lamas of the  

convent1 with their chief1 stood about  
it1 when we entered the court4 ,below   
the verandah were musicians1 holding    
long trumpets and drums4  ,at the right 
of the court were a number of doors1    
leading to the rooms of the lamas2 all  
decorated with sacred paintings and     
provided with little prayer-barrels     
fancifully surmounted by black and white
 tridents1 from the points of which     
floated ribbons bearing                 
inscriptions--doubtless prayers4 ,in the
 centre of the court were raised two    
tall masts1 from the tops of which      
dangled tails of yaks1 and long paper   
streamers floated1 covered with         
religious inscriptions4 ,all along the  
walls were numerous prayer-barrels1     
adorned with ribbons4  ,a profound      
silence reigned among the many          
spectators present4 ,all awaited        
anxiously the commencement of a         
religious mystery1 which was about to be
 presented4 ,we took up a position near 
the verandah4 ,almost immediately1 the  

musicians drew from their long trumpets 
soft and monotonous tones1 marking the  
time by measured beats upon an          
odd-looking drum1 broad and shallow1    
upreared upon a stick planted in the    
ground4 ,at the first sounds of the     
strange music1 in which joined the      
voices of the lamas in a melancholy     
chant1 the doors along the wall opened  
simultaneously1 giving entrance to about
 twenty masked persons1 disguised as    
animals1 birds1 devils and imaginary    
monsters4 ,on their breasts they bore   
representations of fantastic dragons1   
demons and skulls1 embroidered with     
,chinese silk of various colors4 ,from  
the conical hats they wore1 depended to 
their breasts long multicolored ribbons1
 covered with inscriptions4 ,their masks
 were white death's-heads4 ,slowly they 
marched about the masts1 stretching out 
their arms from time to time and        
flourishing with their left hands       
spoon-shaped objects1 the bowl portions 
of which were said to be fragments of   

human crania1 with ribbons attached1    
having affixed to their ends human hair1
 which1 ,i was assured1 had been taken  
from scalped enemies4 ,their promenade1 
in gradually narrowing circles about the
 masts1 soon became merely a confused   
jostling of each other2 when the rolling
 of the drum grew more accentuated1 the 
performers for an instant stopped1 then 
started again1 swinging above their     
heads yellow sticks1 ribbon-decked1     
which with their right hands they       
brandished in menacing attitudes4       
,after making a salute to the chief     
lama1 they approached the door leading  
to the temple1 which at this instant    
opened1 and from it another band came   
forth1 whose heads were covered by      
copper masks4 ,their dresses were of    
rich materials1 embroidered in various  
bright colors4 ,in one hand each of them
 carried a small tambourine and with the
 other he agitated a little bell4 ,from 
the rim of each tambourine depended a   
metallic ball1 so placed that the least 

movement of the hand brought it in      
contact with the resonant tympanum1     
which caused a strange1 continuous      
undercurrent of pulsating sound4 ,there 
new performers circled several times    
about the court1 marking the time of    
their dancing steps by measured         
thumpings of the tambourines4 ,at the   
completion of each turn1 they made a    
deafening noise with their instruments4 
,finally1 they ran to the temple door   
and ranged themselves upon the steps    
before it4  ,for a moment1 there was    
silence4 ,then we saw emerge from the   
temple a third band of performers4      
,their enormous masks represented       
different deities1 and each bore upon   
its forehead the third eye4 ,at their   
head marched ,thlogan-,poudma-,jungnas  
7literally he who was born in the lotus 
flower74 ,another richly dressed mask   
marched beside him1 carrying a yellow   
parasol covered with symbolic designs4  
,his suite was composed of gods1 in     
magnificent costumes2 ,dorje-,trolong   

and ,sangspa-,kourpo 7i4e41 ,brahma     
himself71 and others4 ,these masks1 as a
 lama sitting near me explained to us1  
represented six classes of beings       
subject to the metamorphoses2 the gods1 
the demigods1 men1 animals1 spirits and 
demons4  ,on each side of these         
personages1 who advanced gravely1       
marched other masks1 costumed in silks  
of brilliant hues and wearing on their  
heads golden crowns1 fashioned with six 
lotus-like flowers on each1 surmounted  
by a tall dart in the centre4 ,each of  
these masks carried a drum4  ,these     
disguises made three turns about the    
masts1 to the sound of a noisy and      
incoherent music1 and then seated       
themselves on the ground1 around        
,thlogan-,pondma-,jungnas1 a god with   
three eyes1 who gravely introduced two  
fingers into his mouth and emitted a    
shrill whistle4 ,at this signal1 young  
men dressed in warrior costumes--with   
ribbon-decked bells dangling about their
 legs--came with measured steps from the

 temple4 ,their heads were covered by   
enormous green masks1 from which floated
 triangular red flags1 and they1 too1   
carried tambourines4 ,making a          
diabolical din1 they whirled and danced 
about the gods seated on the ground4    
,two big fellows accompanying them1 who 
were dressed in tight clown costumes1   
executed all kinds of grotesque         
contortions and acrobatic feats1 by     
which they won plaudits and shouts of   
laughter from the spectators4  ,another 
group of disguises--of which the        
principal features were red mitres and  
yellow pantaloons--came out of the      
temple1 with bells and tambourines in   
their hands1 and seated themselves      
opposite the gods1 as representatives of
 the highest powers next to divinity4   
,lastly there entered upon the scene a  
lot of red and brown masks1 with a third
 eye painted on their breasts4 ,with    
those who had preceded them1 they formed
 two long lines of dancers1 who to the  
thrumming of their many tambourines1 the

 measured music of the trumpets and     
drums1 and the jingling of a myriad of  
bells1 performed a dance1 approaching   
and receding from each other1 whirling  
in circles1 forming by twos in a column 
and breaking from that formation to make
 new combinations1 pausing occasionally 
to make reverent obeisance before the   
gods4  ,after a time this spectacular   
excitement--the noisy monotony of which 
began to weary me--calmed down a little2
 gods1 demigods1 kings1 men and spirits 
got up1 and followed by all the other   
maskers1 directed themselves toward the 
temple door1 whence issued at once1     
meeting them1 a lot of men admirably    
disguised as skeletons4 ,all those      
sorties were calculated and prearranged1
 and every one of them had its          
particular significance4 ,the cortge of 
dancers gave way to the skeletons1 who  
advanced with measured steps1 in        
silence1 to the masts1 where they       
stopped and made a concerted clicking   
with pieces of wood hanging at their    

sides1 simulating perfectly the rattling
 of dry bones and gnashing of teeth4    
,twice they went in a circle around the 
masts1 marching in time to low taps on  
the drums1 and then joined in a         
lugubrious religious chant4 ,having once
 more made the concerted rattling of    
their artificial bones and jaws1 they   
executed some contortions painful to    
witness and together stopped4  ,then    
they seized upon an image of the ,enemy 
of ,man--made of some sort of brittle   
paste--which had been placed at the foot
 of one of the masts4 ,this they broke  
in pieces and scattered1 and the oldest 
men among the spectators1 rising from   
their places1 picked up the fragments   
which they handed to the skeletons--an  
action supposed to signify that they    
would soon be ready to join the bony    
crew in the cemetery4         99        
99       99       99       99  ,the     
chief lama1 approaching me1 tendered an 
invitation to accompany him to the      
principal terrace and partake of the    

festal tchang2 which ,i accepted with   
pleasure1 for my head was dizzy from the
 long spectacle4  ,we crossed the court 
and climbed a staircase--obstructed with
 prayer-wheels1 as usual--passed two    
rooms where there were many images of   
gods1 and came out upon the terrace1    
where ,i seated myself upon a bench     
opposite the venerable lama1 whose eyes 
sparkled with spirit4  ,three lamas     
brought pitchers of tchang1 which they  
poured into small copper cups1 that were
 offered first to the chief lama1 then  
to me and my servants4  ,did you enjoy  
our little festival8 the lama asked me4 
,i found it very enjoyable and am still 
impressed by the spectacle ,i have      
witnessed4 ,but1 to tell the truth1 ,i  
never suspected for a moment that       
,buddhism1 in these religious           
ceremonies1 could display such a        
visible1 not to say noisy1 exterior     
form4  ,there is no religion1 the       
ceremonies of which are not surrounded  
with more theatrical forms1 the lama    

answered4 ,this is a ritualistic phase  
which does not by any means violate the 
fundamental principles of ,buddhism4 ,it
 is a practical means for maintaining in
 the ignorant mass obedience to and love
 for the one ,creator1 just as a child  
is beguiled by toys to do the will of   
its parents4 ,the ignorant mass is the  
child of ,the ,father4  ,but what is the
 meaning1 ,i said to him1 of all those  
masks1 costumes1 bells1 dances1 and1    
generally1 of this entire performance1  
which seems to be executed after a      
prescribed programme8  ,we have many    
similar festivals in the year1 answered 
the lama1 and we arrange particular ones
 to represent 'mysteries1' susceptible  
of pantomimic presentation1 in which    
each actor is allowed considerable      
latitude of action1 in the movements and
 jests he likes1 conforming1            
nevertheless1 to the circumstances and  
to the leading idea4 ,our mysteries are 
simply pantomimes calculated to show the
 veneration offered to the gods1 which  

veneration sustains and cheers the soul 
of man1 who is prone to anxious         
contemplation of inevitable death and   
the life to come4 ,the actors receive   
the dresses from the cloister and they  
play according to general indications1  
which leave them much liberty of        
individual action4 ,the general effect  
produced is1 no doubt1 very beautiful1  
but it is a matter for the spectators   
themselves to divine the signification  
of one or another action4 ,you1 too1    
have recourse sometimes to similar      
devices1 which1 however1 do not in the  
least violate the principle of          
monotheism4  ,pardon me1 ,i remarked1   
but this multitude of idols with which  
your gonpas abound1 is a flagrant       
violation of that principle4  ,as ,i    
have told you1 replied the lama to my   
interruption1 man will always be in     
childhood4 ,he sees and feels the       
grandeur of nature and understands      
everything presented to his senses1 but 
he neither sees nor divines the ,great  

,soul which created and animates all    
things4 ,man has always sought for      
tangible things4 ,it was not possible   
for him to believe long in that which   
escaped his material senses4 ,he has    
racked his brain for any means for      
contemplating the ,creator2 has         
endeavored to enter into direct         
relations with him who has done him so  
much good1 and also1 as he erroneously  
believes1 so much evil4 ,for this reason
 he began to adore every phase of nature
 from which he received benefits4 ,we   
see a striking example of this in the   
ancient ,egyptians1 who adored animals1 
trees1 stones1 the winds and the rain4  
,other peoples1 who were more sunk in   
ignorance1 seeing that the results of   
the wind were not always beneficent1 and
 that the rain did not inevitably bring 
good harvests1 and that the animals were
 not willingly subservient to man1 began
 to seek for direct intermediaries      
between themselves and the great        
mysterious and unfathomable power of the

 ,creator4 ,therefore they made for     
themselves idols1 which they regarded as
 indifferent to things concerning them1 
but to whose interposition in their     
behalf1 they might always recur4 ,from  
remotest antiquity to our own days1 man 
was ever inclined only to tangible      
realities4  ,while seeking a route to   
lead their feet to the ,creator1 the    
,assyrians turned their eyes toward the 
stars1 which they contemplated without  
the power of attaining them4 ,the       
,guebers have conserved the same belief 
to our days4 ,in their nullity and      
spiritual blindness1 men are incapable  
of conceiving the invisible spiritual   
bond which unites them to the great     
,divinity1 and this explains why they   
have always sought for palpable things1 
which were in the domain of the senses1 
and by doing which they minimized the   
divine principle4 ,nevertheless1 they   
have dared to attribute to their visible
 and man-made images a divine and       
eternal existence4 ,we can see the same 

fact in ,brahminism1 where man1 given to
 his inclination for exterior forms1 has
 created1 little by little1 and not all 
at once1 an army of gods and demigods4  
,the ,israelites may be said to have    
demonstrated1 in the most flagrant way1 
the love of man for everything which is 
concrete4 ,in spite of a series of      
striking miracles accomplished by the   
great ,creator1 who is the same for all 
the peoples1 the ,jewish people could   
not help making a god of metal in the   
very minute when their prophet ,mossa   
spoke to them of the ,creator6 ,buddhism
 has passed through the same            
modifications4 ,our great reformer1     
,sakya-,muni1 inspired by the ,supreme  
,judge1 understood truly the one and    
indivisible ,brahma1 and forbade his    
disciples attempting to manufacture     
images in imaginary semblance of him4   
,he had openly broken from the          
polytheistic ,brahmins1 and appreciated 
the purity1 oneness and immortality of  
,brahma4 ,the success he achieved by his

 teachings in making disciples among the
 people1 brought upon him persecution by
 the ,brahmins1 who1 in the creation of 
new gods1 had found a source of personal
 revenue1 and who1 contrary to the law  
of ,god1 treated the people in a        
despotic manner4 ,our first sacred      
teachers1 to whom we give the name of   
buddhas--which means1 learned men or    
saints--because the great ,creator has  
incarnated in them1 settled in different
 countries of the globe4 ,as their      
teachings attacked especially the       
tyranny of the ,brahmins and the misuse 
they made of the idea of ,god--of which 
they indeed made a veritable            
business--almost all the ,buddhistic    
converts1 they who followed the         
doctrines of those great teachers1 were 
among the common people of ,china and   
,india4 ,among those teachers1          
particular reverence is felt for the    
,buddha1 ,sakya-,muni1 known in ,china  
also under the name of ,f1 who lived    
three thousand years ago1 and whose     

teachings brought all ,china back into  
the path of the true ,god2 and the      
,buddha1 ,gautama1 who lived two        
thousand five hundred years ago1 and    
converted almost half the ,hindus to the
 knowledge of the impersonal1           
indivisible and only ,god1 besides whom 
there is none4  ,buddhism is divided    
into many sects which1 by the way1      
differ only in certain religious        
ceremonies1 the basis of the doctrine   
being everywhere the same4 ,the         
,thibetan ,buddhists1 who are called    
'lamaists1' separated themselves from   
the ,f-ists fifteen hundred years ago4  
,until that time we had formed part of  
the worshippers of the ,buddha1         
,f-,sakya-,muni1 who was the first to   
collect all the laws compiled by the    
various buddhas preceding him1 when the 
great schism took place in the bosom of 
,brahmanism4 ,later on1 a               
,khoutoukhte-,mongol translated into    
,chinese the books of the great ,buddha1
 for which the ,emperor of ,china       

rewarded him by bestowing upon him the  
title of ',go-,chi--',preceptor of the  
,king6' ,after his death1 this title was
 given to the ,dalai-,lama of ,thibet4  
,since that epoch1 all the titularies of
 this position have borne the title of  
,go-,chi4 ,our religion is called the   
,lamaic one--from the word 'lama1'      
superior4 ,it admits of two classes of  
monks1 the red and the yellow4 ,the     
former may marry1 and they recognize the
 authority of the ,bantsine1 who resides
 in ,techow ,loumba1 and is chief of the
 civil administration in ,thibet4 ,we1  
the yellow lamas1 have taken the vow of 
celibacy1 and our direct chief is the   
,dalai-,lama4 ,this is the difference   
which separates the two religious       
orders1 the respective rituals of which 
are identical4  ,do all perform         
mysteries similar to that which ,i have 
just witnessed8  ,yes2 with a few       
exceptions4 ,formerly these festivals   
were celebrated with very solemn pomp1  
but since the conquest of ,ladak our    

convents have been1 more than once1     
pillaged and our wealth taken away4 ,now
 we content ourselves with simple       
garments and bronze utensils1 while in  
,thibet you see but golden robes and    
gold utensils4  ,in a visit which ,i    
recently made to a gonpa1 one of the    
lamas told me of a prophet1 or1 as you  
call him1 a buddha1 by the name of      
,issa4 ,could you not tell me anything  
about him8 ,i asked my interlocutor1    
seizing this favorable moment to start  
the subject which interested me so      
greatly4  ,the name ,issa is very much  
respected among the ,buddhists1 he      
replied1 but he is only known by the    
chief lamas1 who have read the scrolls  
relating to his life4 ,there have       
existed an infinite number of buddhas   
like ,issa1 and the #hd1jjj scrolls     
existing are filled brim full of details
 concerning each one of them4 ,but very 
few persons have read the one-hundredth 
part of those memoirs4 ,in conformity   
with established custom1 every disciple 

or lama who visits ,lhassa makes a gift 
of one or several copies1 from the      
scrolls there1 to the convent to which  
he belongs4 ,our gonpa1 among others1   
possesses already a great number1 which 
,i read in my leisure hours4 ,among them
 are the memoirs of the life and acts of
 the ,buddha ,issa1 who preached the    
same doctrine in ,india and among the   
sons of ,israel1 and who was put to     
death by the ,pagans1 whose descendants1
 later on1 adopted the beliefs he       
spread1--and those beliefs are yours4   
,the great ,buddha1 the soul of the     
,universe1 is the incarnation of        
,brahma4 ,he1 almost always1 remains    
immobile1 containing in himself all     
things1 being in himself the origin of  
all and his breath vivifying the world4 
,he has left man to the control of his  
own forces1 but1 at certain epochs1 lays
 aside his inaction and puts on a human 
form that he may1 as their teacher and  
guide1 rescue his creatures from        
impending destruction4 ,in the course of

 his terrestrial existence in the       
similitude of man1 ,buddha creates a new
 world in the hearts of erring men2 then
 he leaves the earth1 to become once    
more an invisible being and resume his  
condition of perfect bliss4 ,three      
thousand years ago1 ,buddha incarnated  
in the celebrated ,prince ,sakya-,muni1 
reaffirming and propagating the         
doctrines taught by him in his twenty   
preceding incarnations4 ,twenty-five    
hundred years ago1 the ,great ,soul of  
the ,world incarnated anew in ,gautama1 
laying the foundation of a new world in 
,burmah1 ,siam and different islands4   
,soon afterward1 ,buddhism began to     
penetrate ,china1 through the           
persevering efforts of the sages1 who   
devoted themselves to the propagation of
 the sacred doctrine1 and under         
,ming-,ti1 of the ,honi dynasty1 nearly 
#b1jej years ago1 the teachings of      
,sakya-,muni were adopted by the people 
of that country4 ,simultaneously with   
the appearance of ,buddhism in ,china1  

the same doctrines began to spread among
 the ,israelites4 ,it is about #b1jjj   
years ago that the perfect ,being1      
awaking once more for a short time from 
his inaction1 incarnated in the newborn 
child of a poor family4 ,it was his will
 that this little child should enlighten
 the unhappy upon the life of the world 
to come and bring erring men back into  
the path of truth2 showing to them1 by  
his own example1 the way they could best
 return to the primitive morality and   
purity of our race4 ,when this sacred   
child attained a certain age1 he was    
brought to ,india1 where1 until he      
attained to manhood1 he studied the laws
 of the great ,buddha1 who dwells       
eternally in heaven4  ,in what language 
are written the principal scrolls       
bearing upon the life of ,issa8 ,i      
asked1 rising from my seat1 for ,i saw  
that my interesting interlocutor        
evidenced fatigue1 and had just given a 
twirl to his prayer-wheel1 as if to hint
 the closing of the conversation4  ,the 

original scrolls brought from ,india to 
,nepaul1 and from ,nepaul to ,thibet1   
relating to the life of ,issa1 are      
written in the ,pali language and are   
actually in ,lhassa2 but a copy in our  
language--,i mean the ,thibetan--is in  
this convent4  ,how is ,issa looked upon
 in ,thibet8 ,has he the repute of a    
saint8  ,the people are not even aware  
that he ever existed4 ,only the         
principal lamas1 who know of him through
 having studied the scrolls in which his
 life is related1 are familiar with his 
name2 but1 as his doctrine does not     
constitute a canonical part of          
,buddhism1 and the worshippers of ,issa 
do not recognize the authority of the   
,dalai-,lama1 the prophet ,issa--with   
many others like him--is not recognized 
in ,thibet as one of the principal      
saints4  ,would you commit a sin in     
reciting your copy of the life of ,issa 
to a stranger8 ,i asked him4  ,that     
which belongs to ,god1 he answered me1  
belongs also to man4 ,our duty requires 

us to cheerfully devote ourselves to the
 propagation of ,his doctrine4 ,only1 ,i
 do not1 at present1 know where that    
manuscript is4 ,if you ever visit our   
gonpa again1 ,i shall take pleasure in  
showing it to you4  ,at this moment two 
monks entered1 and uttered to the chief 
lama a few words unintelligible to me4  
,i am called to the sacrifices4 ,will   
you kindly excuse me8 said he to me1 and
 with a salute1 turned to the door and  
disappeared4  ,i could do no better than
 withdraw and lie down in the chamber   
which was assigned to me and where ,i   
spent the night4         99       99    
99       99       99  ,in the evening of
 the next day ,i was again in           
,leh--thinking of how to get back to the
 convent4 ,two days later ,i sent1 by a 
messenger1 to the chief lama1 as        
presents1 a watch1 an alarm clock1 and a
 thermometer4 ,at the same time ,i sent 
the message that before leaving ,ladak  
,i would probably return to the convent1
 in the hope that he would permit me to 

see the manuscript which had been the   
subject of our conversation4 ,it was now
 my purpose to gain ,kachmyr and return 
from there1 some time later1 to ,himis4 
,but fate made a different decision for 
me4  ,in passing a mountain1 on a height
 of which is perched the gonpa of       
,piatak1 my horse made a false step1    
throwing me to the ground so violently  
that my right leg was broken below the  
knee4  ,it was impossible to continue my
 journey1 ,i was not inclined to return 
to ,leh2 and seeking the hospitality of 
the gonpa of ,piatak was not1 from the  
appearance of the cloister1 an enticing 
prospect4 ,my best recourse would be to 
return to ,himis1 then only about half a
 day's journey distant1 and ,i ordered  
my servants to transport me there4 ,they
 bandaged my broken leg--an operation   
which caused me great pain--and lifted  
me into the saddle4 ,one carrier walked 
by my side1 supporting the weight of the
 injured member1 while another led my   
horse4 ,at a late hour of the evening we

 reached the door of the convent of     
,himis4  ,when informed of my accident1 
the kind monks came out to receive me   
and1 with a wealth of extraordinary     
precautions of tenderness1 ,i was       
carried inside1 and1 in one of their    
best rooms1 installed upon an improvised
 bed1 consisting of a mountain of soft  
fabrics1 with the                       
naturally-to-be-expected prayer-cylinder
 beside me4 ,all this was done for me   
under the personal supervision of their 
chief lama1 who1 with affectionate      
sympathy1 pressed the hand ,i gave him  
in expression of my thanks for his      
kindness4  ,in the morning1 ,i myself   
bound around the injured limb little    
oblong pieces of wood1 held by cords1 to
 serve as splints4 ,then ,i remained    
perfectly quiescent and nature was not  
slow in her reparative work4 ,within two
 days my condition was so far improved  
that ,i could1 had it been necessary1   
have left the gonpa and directed myself 
slowly toward ,india in search of a     

surgeon to complete my cure4  ,while a  
boy kept in motion the prayer-barrel    
near my bed1 the venerable lama who     
ruled the convent entertained me with   
many interesting stories4 ,frequently he
 took from their box the alarm clock and
 the watch1 that ,i might illustrate to 
him the process of winding them and     
explain to him their uses4 ,at length1  
yielding to my ardent insistence1 he    
brought me two big books1 the large     
leaves of which were of paper yellow    
with age1 and from them read to me the  
biography of ,issa1 which ,i carefully  
transcribed in my travelling notebook   
according to the translation made by the
 interpreter4 ,this curious document is 
compiled under the form of isolated     
verses1 which1 as placed1 very often had
 no apparent connection with1 or        
relation to each other4  ,on the third  
day1 my condition was so far improved as
 to permit the prosecution of my        
journey4 ,having bound up my leg as well
 as possible1 ,i returned1 across       

,kachmyr1 to ,india2 a slow journey1 of 
twenty days1 filled with intolerable    
pain4 ,thanks1 however1 to a litter1    
which a ,french gentleman1 ,m4          
,peicheau1 had kindly sent to me 7my    
gratitude for which ,i take this        
occasion to express71 and to an ukase of
 the ,grand ,vizier of the ,maharajah of
 ,kachmyr1 ordering the local           
authorities to provide me with carriers1
 ,i reached ,srinagar1 and left almost  
immediately1 being anxious to gain      
,india before the first snows fell4  ,in
 ,mur ,i encountered another ,frenchman1
 ,count ,andr de ,saint ,phall1 who was 
making a journey of recreation across   
,hindostan4 ,during the whole course1   
which we made together1 to ,bombay1 the 
young count demonstrated a touching     
solicitude for me1 and sympathy for the 
excruciating pain ,i suffered from my   
broken leg and the fever induced by its 
torture4 ,i cherish for him sincere     
gratitude1 and shall never forget the   
friendly care which ,i received upon my 

arrival in ,bombay from the ,marquis de 
,mors1 the ,vicomte de ,breteul1 ,m4    
,monod1 of the ,comptoir d',escompte1   
,m4 ,mot1 acting consul1 and all the    
members of the very sympathetic ,french 
colony there4  ,during a long time ,i   
revolved in my mind the purpose of      
publishing the memoirs of the life of   
,jesus ,christ found by me in ,himis1 of
 which ,i have spoken1 but other        
interests absorbed my attention and     
delayed it4 ,only now1 after having     
passed long nights of wakefulness in the
 coordination of my notes and grouping  
the verses conformably to the march of  
the recital1 imparting to the work1 as a
 whole1 a character of unity1 ,i resolve
 to let this curious chronicle see the  
light4     ,the ,life of ,saint ,issa   
,best of the ,sons of ,men4   ,i4  #a4  
,the earth trembled and the heavens     
wept1 because of the great crime        
committed in the land of ,israel4  #b4  
,for there was tortured and murdered the
 great and just ,issa1 in whom was      

manifest the soul of the ,universe2  #c4
 ,which had incarnated in a simple      
mortal1 to benefit men and destroy the  
evil spirit in them2  #d4 ,to lead back 
to peace1 love and happiness1 man1      
degraded by his sins1 and recall him to 
the one and indivisible ,creator whose  
mercy is infinite4  #e4 ,the merchants  
coming from ,israel have given the      
following account of what has occurred3 
,,ii4  #a4 ,the people of ,israel--who  
inhabit a fertile country producing two 
harvests a year and affording pasture   
for large herds of cattle--by their sins
 brought down upon themselves the anger 
of the ,lord2  #b4 ,who inflicted upon  
them terrible chastisements1 taking from
 them their land1 their cattle and their
 wealth4 ,they were carried away into   
slavery by the rich and mighty ,pharaohs
 who then ruled the land of ,egypt4  #c4
 ,the ,israelites were1 by the          
,pharaohs1 treated worse than beasts1   
condemned to hard labor and put in      
irons2 their bodies were covered with   

wounds and sores2 they were not         
permitted to live under a roof1 and were
 starved to death2  #d4 ,that they might
 be maintained in a state of continual  
terror and deprived of all human        
resemblance2  #e4 ,and in this great    
calamity1 the ,israelites1 remembering  
their ,celestial ,protector1 implored   
his forgiveness and mercy4  #f4 ,at that
 period reigned in ,egypt an illustrious
 ,pharaoh1 who was renowned for his many
 victories1 immense riches1 and the     
gigantic palaces he had erected by the  
labor of his slaves4  #g4 ,this ,pharaoh
 had two sons1 the younger of whom1     
named ,mossa1 had acquired much         
knowledge from the sages of ,israel4    
#h4 ,and ,mossa was beloved by all in   
,egypt for his kindness of heart and the
 pity he showed to all sufferers4  #i4  
,when ,mossa saw that the ,israelites1  
in spite of their many sufferings1 had  
not forsaken their ,god1 and refused to 
worship the gods of ,egypt1 created by  
the hands of man4  #aj4 ,he also put his

 faith in their invisible ,god1 who did 
not suffer them to betray ,him1 despite 
their ever growing weakness4  #aa4 ,and 
the teachers among ,israel animated     
,mossa in his zeal1 and prayed of him   
that he would intercede with his father1
 ,pharaoh1 in favor of their            
co-religionists4  #ab4 ,prince ,mossa   
went before his father1 begging him to  
lighten the burden of the unhappy       
people2 ,pharaoh1 however1 became       
incensed with rage1 and ordered that    
they should be tormented more than      
before4  #ac4 ,and it came to pass that 
,egypt was visited by a great calamity4 
,the plague decimated young and old1 the
 healthy and the sick2 and ,pharaoh     
beheld in this the resentment of his own
 gods against him4  #ad4 ,but ,prince   
,mossa said to his father that it was   
the ,god of his slaves who thus         
interposed on behalf of his wretched    
people1 and avenged them upon the       
,egyptians4  #ae4 ,thereupon1 ,pharaoh  
commanded ,mossa1 his son1 to gather all

 the ,israelite slaves1 and lead them   
away1 and found1 at a great distance    
from the capital1 another city where he 
should rule over them4  #af4 ,then      
,mossa made known to the ,hebrew slaves 
that he had obtained their freedom in   
the name of his and their ,god1 the ,god
 of ,israel2 and with them he left the  
city and departed from the land of      
,egypt4  #ag4 ,he led them back to the  
land which1 because of their many sins1 
had been taken from them4 ,there he gave
 them laws and admonished them to pray  
always to ,god1 the indivisible         
,creator1 whose kindness is infinite4   
#ah4 ,after ,prince ,mossa's death1 the 
,israelites observed rigorously his     
laws2 and ,god rewarded them for the    
ills to which they had been subjected in
 ,egypt4  #ai4 ,their kingdom became one
 of the most powerful on earth2 their   
kings made themselves renowned for their
 treasures1 and peace reigned in        
,israel4   ,,iii4  #a4 ,the glory of    
,israel's wealth spread over the whole  

earth1 and the surrounding nations      
became envious4  #b4 ,but the ,most     
,high himself led the victorious arms of
 the ,hebrews1 and the ,pagans did not  
dare to attack them4  #c4               
,unfortunately1 man is prone to err1 and
 the fidelity of the ,israelites to     
their ,god was not of long duration4    
#d4 ,little by little they forgot the   
favors he had bestowed upon them2 rarely
 invoked his name1 and sought rather    
protection by the magicians and         
sorcerers4  #e4 ,the kings and the      
chiefs among the people substituted     
their own laws for those given by       
,mossa2 the temple of ,god and the      
observances of their ancient faith were 
neglected2 the people addicted          
themselves to sensual gratifications and
 lost their original purity4  #f4 ,many 
centuries had elapsed since their exodus
 from ,egypt1 when ,god bethought       
himself of again inflicting chastisement
 upon them4  #g4 ,strangers invaded     
,israel1 devastated the land1 destroyed 

the villages1 and carried their         
inhabitants away into captivity4  #h4   
,at last came the ,pagans from over the 
sea1 from the land of ,romeles4 ,these  
made themselves masters of the ,hebrews1
 and placed over them their army chiefs1
 who governed in the name of ,csar4  #i4
 ,they defiled the temples1 forced the  
inhabitants to cease the worship of the 
indivisible ,god1 and compelled them to 
sacrifice to the heathen gods4  #aj4    
,they made common soldiers of those who 
had been men of rank2 the women became  
their prey1 and the common people1      
reduced to slavery1 were carried away by
 thousands over the sea4  #aa4 ,the     
children were slain1 and soon1 in the   
whole land1 there was naught heard but  
weeping and lamentation4  #ab4 ,in this 
extreme distress1 the ,israelites once  
more remembered their great ,god1       
implored his mercy and prayed for his   
forgiveness4 ,our ,father1 in his       
inexhaustible clemency1 heard their     
prayer4   ,,iv4  #a4 ,at that time the  

moment had come for the compassionate   
,judge to reincarnate in a human form2  
#b4 ,and the eternal ,spirit1 resting in
 a state of complete inaction and       
supreme bliss1 awakened and separated   
from the eternal ,being1 for an         
undetermined period1  #c4 ,so that1 in  
human form1 ,he might teach man to      
identify himself with the ,divinity and 
attain to eternal felicity2  #d4 ,and to
 show1 by ,his example1 how man can     
attain moral purity and free his soul   
from the domination of the physical     
senses1 so that it may achieve the      
perfection necessary for it to enter the
 ,kingdom of ,heaven1 which is immutable
 and where bliss eternal reigns4  #e4   
,soon after1 a marvellous child was born
 in the land of ,israel4 ,god himself   
spoke1 through the mouth of this child1 
of the miseries of the body and the     
grandeur of the soul4  #f4 ,the parents 
of the infant were poor people1 who     
belonged to a family noted for great    
piety2 who forgot the greatness of their

 ancestors in celebrating the name of   
the ,creator and giving thanks to ,him  
for the trials which ,he had sent upon  
them4  #g4 ,to reward them for adhering 
to the path of truth1 ,god blessed the  
firstborn of this family2 chose him for 
,his elect1 and sent him to sustain the 
fallen and comfort the afflicted4  #h4  
,the divine child1 to whom the name     
,issa was given1 commenced in his tender
 years to talk of the only and          
indivisible ,god1 exhorting the strayed 
souls to repent and purify themselves   
from the sins of which they had become  
guilty4  #i4 ,people came from all parts
 to hear him1 and marvelled at the      
discourses which came from his infantile
 mouth2 and all ,israel agreed that the 
,spirit of the ,eternal dwelt in this   
child4  #aj4 ,when ,issa was thirteen   
years old1 the age at which an          
,israelite is expected to marry1  #aa4  
,the modest house of his industrious    
parents became a meeting place of the   
rich and illustrious1 who were anxious  

to have as a son-in-law the young ,issa1
 who was already celebrated for the     
edifying discourses he made in the name 
of the ,all-,powerful4  #ab4 ,then ,issa
 secretly absented himself from his     
father's house2 left ,jerusalem1 and1 in
 a train of merchants1 journeyed toward 
the ,sindh1  #ac4 ,with the object of   
perfecting himself in the knowledge of  
the word of ,god and the study of the   
laws of the great ,buddhas4   ,v4  #a4  
,in his fourteenth year1 young ,issa1   
the ,blessed ,one1 came this side of the
 ,sindh and settled among the ,aryas1 in
 the country beloved by ,god4  #b4 ,fame
 spread the name of the marvellous youth
 along the northern ,sindh1 and when he 
came through the country of the five    
streams and ,radjipoutan1 the devotees  
of the god ,djane asked him to stay     
among them4  #c4 ,but he left the       
deluded worshippers of ,djane and went  
to ,djagguernat1 in the country of      
,orsis1 where repose the mortal remains 
of ,vyassa-,krishna1 and where the white

 priests of ,brahma welcomed him        
joyfully4  #d4 ,they taught him to read 
and to understand the ,vedas1 to cure   
physical ills by means of prayers1 to   
teach and to expound the sacred         
,scriptures1 to drive out evil desires  
from man and make him again in the      
likeness of ,god4  #e4 ,he spent six    
years in ,djagguernat1 in ,radjagriha1  
in ,benares1 and in other holy cities4  
,the common people loved ,issa1 for he  
lived in peace with the ,vaisyas and the
 ,sudras1 to whom he taught the ,holy   
,scriptures4  #f4 ,but the ,brahmins and
 the ,kshatnyas told him that they were 
forbidden by the great ,para-,brahma to 
come near to those who were created from
 his belly and his feet2#a  #g4 ,that   
the ,vaisyas might only hear the recital
 of the ,vedas1 and this only on the    
festal days1 and  #h4 ,that the ,sudras 
were not only forbidden to attend the   
reading of the ,vedas1 but even to look 
on them2 for they were condemned to     
perpetual servitude1 as slaves of the   

,brahmins1 the ,kshatriyas and even the 
,vaisyas4  #i4 ,death alone can         
enfranchise them from their servitude1  
has said ,para-,brahma4 ,leave them1    
therefore1 and come to adore with us the
 gods1 whom you will make angry if you  
disobey them4  #aj4 ,but ,issa1         
disregarding their words1 remained with 
the ,sudras1 preaching against the      
,brahmins and the ,kshatriyas4  #aa4 ,he
 declaimed strongly against man's       
arrogating to himself the authority to  
deprive his fellow-beings of their human
 and spiritual rights4 ,verily1 he said1
 ,god has made no difference between his
 children1 who are all alike dear to    
,him4  #ab4 ,issa denied the divine     
inspiration of the ,vedas and the       
,puranas1 for1 as he taught his         
followers1--,one law has been given to  
man to guide him in his actions3  #ac4  
,fear the ,lord1 thy ,god2 bend thy     
knees only before ,him and bring to ,him
 only the offerings which come from thy 
earnings4  #ad4 ,issa denied the        

,trimurti and the incarnation of        
,para-,brahma in ,vishnu1 ,siva1 and    
other gods2 for1 said he3  #ae4 ,the    
eternal ,judge1 the eternal ,spirit1    
constitutes the only and indivisible    
soul of the universe1 and it is this    
soul alone which creates1 contains and  
vivifies all4  #af4 ,he alone has willed
 and created4 ,he alone has existed from
 eternity1 and ,his existence will be   
without end2 there is no one like unto  
,him either in the heavens or on the    
earth4  #ag4 ,the great ,creator has    
divided ,his power with no other being2 
far less with inanimate objects1 as you 
have been taught to believe1 for ,he    
alone is omnipotent and all-sufficient4 
#ah4 ,he willed1 and the world was4 ,by 
one divine thought1 ,he reunited the    
waters and separated them from the dry  
land of the globe4 ,he is the cause of  
the mysterious life of man1 into whom   
,he has breathed part of ,his divine    
,being4  #ai4 ,and ,he has put under    
subjection to man1 the lands1 the       

waters1 the beasts and everything which 
,he created1 and which ,he himself      
preserves in immutable order1 allotting 
to each its proper duration4  #bj4 ,the 
anger of ,god will soon break forth upon
 man2 for he has forgotten his ,creator2
 he has filled ,his temples with        
abominations2 and he adores a multitude 
of creatures which ,god has subordinated
 to him2  #ba4 ,and to gain favor with  
images of stone and metal1 he sacrifices
 human beings in whom dwells part of the
 ,spirit of the ,most ,high2  #bb4 ,and 
he humiliates those who work in the     
sweat of their brows1 to gain favor in  
the eyes of the idler who sitteth at a  
sumptuous table4  #bc4 ,those who       
deprive their brothers of divine        
happiness will themselves be deprived of
 it2 and the ,brahmins and the          
,kshatriyas shall become the ,sudras of 
the ,sudras1 with whom the ,eternal will
 stay forever4  #bd4 ,in the day of     
judgment the ,sudras and the ,vaisyas   
will be forgiven for that they knew not 

the light1 while ,god will let loose his
 wrath upon those who arrogated his     
authority4  #be4 ,the ,vaisyas and the  
,sudras were filled with great          
admiration1 and asked ,issa how they    
should pray1 in order not to lose their 
hold upon eternal life4  #bf4 ,pray not 
to idols1 for they cannot hear you2     
hearken not to the ,vedas where the     
truth is altered2 be humble and         
humiliate not your fellow man4  #bg4    
,help the poor1 support the weak1 do    
evil to none2 covet not that which ye   
have not and which belongs to others4   
,,vi4  #a4 ,the white priests and the   
warriors1#b who had learned of ,issa's  
discourse to the ,sudras1 resolved upon 
his death1 and sent their servants to   
find the young teacher and slay him4    
#b4 ,but ,issa1 warned by the ,sudras of
 his danger1 left by night ,djagguernat1
 gained the mountain1 and settled in the
 country of the ,gautamides1 where the  
great ,buddha ,sakya-,muni came to the  
world1 among a people who worshipped the

 only and sublime ,brahma4  #c4 ,when   
the just ,issa had acquired the ,pali   
language1 he applied himself to the     
study of the sacred scrolls of the      
,sutras4  #d4 ,after six years of study1
 ,issa1 whom the ,buddha had elected to 
spread his holy word1 could perfectly   
expound the sacred scrolls4  #e4 ,he    
then left ,nepaul and the ,himalaya     
mountains1 descended into the valley of 
,radjipoutan and directed his steps     
toward the ,west1 everywhere preaching  
to the people the supreme perfection    
attainable by man2  #f4 ,and the good he
 must do to his fellow men1 which is the
 sure means of speedy union with the    
eternal ,spirit4 ,he who has recovered  
his primitive purity1 said ,issa1 shall 
die with his transgressions forgiven and
 have the right to contemplate the      
majesty of ,god4  #g4 ,when the divine  
,issa traversed the territories of the  
,pagans1 he taught that the adoration of
 visible gods was contrary to natural   
law4  #h4 ,for to man1 said he1 it has  

not been given to see the image of ,god1
 and it behooves him not to make for    
himself a multitude of divinities in the
 imagined likeness of the ,eternal4  #i4
 ,moreover1 it is against human         
conscience to have less regard for the  
greatness of divine purity1 than for    
animals or works of stone or metal made 
by the hands of man4  #aj4 ,the eternal 
,lawgiver is ,one2 there are no other   
,gods than ,he2 ,he has parted the world
 with none1 nor had ,he any counsellor4 
#aa4 ,even as a father shows kindness   
toward his children1 so will ,god judge 
men after death1 in conformity with ,his
 merciful laws4 ,he will never humiliate
 his child by casting his soul for      
chastisement into the body of a beast4  
#ab4 ,the heavenly laws1 said the       
,creator1 through the mouth of ,issa1   
are opposed to the immolation of human  
sacrifices to a statue or an animal2 for
 ,i1 the ,god1 have sacrificed to man   
all the animals and all that the world  
contains4  #ac4 ,everything has been    

sacrificed to man1 who is directly and  
intimately united to me1 his ,father2   
therefore1 shall the man be severely    
judged and punished1 by my law1 who     
causes the sacrifice of my children4    
#ad4 ,man is naught before the eternal  
,judge2 as the animal is before man4    
#ae4 ,therefore1 ,i say unto you1 leave 
your idols and perform not ceremonies   
which separate you from your ,father and
 bind you to the priests1 from whom     
heaven has turned away4  #af4 ,for it is
 they who have led you away from the    
true ,god1 and by superstitions and     
cruelty perverted the spirit and made   
you blind to the knowledge of the truth4
   ,,vii4  #a4 ,the words of ,issa      
spread among the ,pagans1 through whose 
country he passed1 and the inhabitants  
abandoned their idols4  #b4 ,seeing     
which1 the priests demanded of him who  
thus glorified the name of the true     
,god1 that he should1 in the presence of
 the people1 prove the charges he made  
against them1 and demonstrate the vanity

 of their idols4  #c4 ,and ,issa        
answered them3 ,if your idols1 or the   
animals you worship1 really possess the 
supernatural powers you claim1 let them 
strike me with a thunderbolt before you6
  #d4 ,why dost not thou perform a      
miracle1 replied the priests1 and let   
thy ,god confound ours1 if ,he is       
greater than they8  #e4 ,but ,issa said3
 ,the miracles of our ,god have been    
wrought from the first day when the     
universe was created2 and are performed 
every day and every moment2 whoso sees  
them not is deprived of one of the most 
beautiful gifts of life4  #f4 ,and it is
 not on inanimate objects of stone1     
metal or wood that ,he will let ,his    
anger fall1 but on the men who worship  
them1 and who1 therefore1 for their     
salvation1 must destroy the idols they  
have made4  #g4 ,even as a stone and a  
grain of sand1 which are naught before  
man1 await patiently their use by ,him4 
#h4 ,in like manner1 man1 who is naught 
before ,god1 must await in resignation  

,his pleasure for a manifestation of    
,his favor4  #i4 ,but woe to you6 ye    
adversaries of men1 if it is not the    
favor you await1 but rather the wrath of
 the ,most ,high2 woe to you1 if you    
demand that ,he attest ,his power by a  
miracle6  #aj4 ,for it is not the idols 
which ,he will destroy in ,his wrath1   
but those by whom they were created2    
their hearts will be the prey of an     
eternal fire and their flesh shall be   
given to the beasts of prey4  #aa4 ,god 
will drive away the contaminated animals
 from ,his flocks2 but will take to     
,himself those who strayed because they 
knew not the heavenly part within them4 
#ab4 ,when the ,pagans saw that the     
power of their priests was naught1 they 
put faith in the words of ,issa4        
,fearing the anger of the true ,god1    
they broke their idols to pieces and    
caused their priests to flee from among 
them4  #ac4 ,issa furthermore taught the
 ,pagans that they should not endeavor  
to see the eternal ,spirit with their   

eyes2 but to perceive ,him with their   
hearts1 and make themselves worthy of   
,his favors by the purity of their      
souls4  #ad4 ,not only1 he said to them1
 must ye refrain from offering human    
sacrifices1 but ye may not lay on the   
altar any creature to which life has    
been given1 for all things created are  
for man4  #ae4 ,withhold not from your  
neighbor his just due1 for this would be
 like stealing from him what he had     
earned in the sweat of his brow4  #af4  
,deceive none1 that ye may not          
yourselves be deceived2 seek to justify 
yourselves before the last judgment1 for
 then it will be too late4  #ag4 ,be not
 given to debauchery1 for it is a       
violation of the law of ,god4  #ah4     
,that you may attain to supreme bliss ye
 must not only purify yourselves1 but   
must also guide others into the path    
that will enable them to regain their   
primitive innocence4   ,,viii4  #a4 ,the
 countries round about were filled with 
the renown of ,issa's preachings1 and   

when he came unto ,persia1 the priests  
grew afraid and forbade the people      
hearing him2  #b4 ,nevertheless1 the    
villages received him with joy1 and the 
people hearkened intently to his words1 
which1 being seen by the priests1 caused
 them to order that he should be        
arrested and brought before their ,high 
,priest1 who asked him3  #c4 ,of what   
new ,god dost thou speak8 ,knowest thou 
not1 unfortunate man that thou art6 that
 ,saint ,zoroaster is the only ,just    
,one1 to whom alone was vouchsafed the  
honor of receiving revelations from the 
,most ,high2  #d4 ,by whose command the 
angels compiled ,his ,word in laws for  
the governance of ,his people1 which    
were given to ,zoroaster in ,paradise8  
#e4 ,who1 then1 art thou1 who darest to 
utter blasphemies against our ,god and  
sow doubt in the hearts of believers8   
#f4 ,and ,issa said to them3 ,i preach  
no new ,god1 but our celestial ,father1 
who has existed before the beginning and
 will exist until after the end4  #g4   

,of ,him ,i have spoken to the people1  
who--even as innocent children--are     
incapable of comprehending ,god by their
 own intelligence1 or fathoming the     
sublimity of the divine ,spirit2  #h4   
,but1 as the newborn child in the night 
recognizes the mother's breast1 so your 
people1 held in the darkness of error by
 your pernicious doctrines and religious
 ceremonies1 have recognized            
instinctively their ,father1 in the     
,father whose prophet ,i am4  #i4 ,the  
eternal ,being says to your people1 by  
my mouth1 ',ye shall not adore the sun1 
for it is but a part of the universe    
which ,i have created for man2  #aj4 ,it
 rises to warm you during your work2 it 
sets to accord to you the rest that ,i  
have ordained4  #aa4 ,to me only ye owe 
all that ye possess1 all that surrounds 
you and that is above and below you4'   
#ab4 ,but1 said the priests1 how could  
the people live according to your rules 
if they had no teachers8  #ac4          
,whereupon ,issa answered3 ,so long as  

they had no priests1 they were governed 
by the natural law and conserved the    
simplicity of their souls2  #ad4 ,their 
souls were in ,god and to commune with  
the ,father they had not to have        
recourse to the intermediation of idols1
 or animals1 or fire1 as taught by you4 
#ae4 ,ye pretend that man must adore the
 sun1 and the ,genii of ,good and ,evil4
 ,but ,i say unto you that your doctrine
 is pernicious4 ,the sun does not act   
spontaneously1 but by the will of the   
invisible ,creator1 who has given to it 
being4  #af4 ,who1 then1 has caused that
 this star lights the day1 warms man at 
his work and vivifies the seeds sown in 
the ground8  #ag4 ,the eternal ,spirit  
is the soul of everything animate1 and  
you commit a great sin in dividing ,him 
into the ,spirit of ,evil and the       
,spirit of ,good1 for there is no ,god  
other than the ,god of ,good4  #ah4 ,and
 ,he1 like to the father of a family1   
does only good to ,his children1 to whom
 ,he forgives their transgressions if   

they repent of them4  #ai4 ,and the     
,spirit of ,evil dwells upon earth1 in  
the hearts of those who turn the        
children of ,god away from the right    
path4  #bj4 ,therefore1 ,i say unto you2
 ,fear the day of judgment1 for ,god    
will inflict a terrible chastisement    
upon all those who have led ,his        
children astray and beguiled them with  
superstitions and errors2  #ba4 ,upon   
those who have blinded them who saw2 who
 have brought contagion to the well2 who
 have taught the worship of those things
 which ,god made to be subject to man1  
or to aid him in his works4  #bb4 ,your 
doctrine is the fruit of your error in  
seeking to bring near to you the ,god of
 ,truth1 by creating for yourselves     
false gods4  #bc4 ,when the ,magi heard 
these words1 they feared to themselves  
do him harm1 but at night1 when the     
whole city slept1 they brought him      
outside the walls and left him on the   
highway1 in the hope that he would not  
fail to become the prey of wild beasts4 

#bd4 ,but1 protected by the ,lord our   
,god1 ,saint ,issa continued on his way1
 without accident4   ,,ix4  #a4         
,issa--whom the ,creator had selected to
 recall to the worship of the true ,god1
 men sunk in sin--was twenty-nine years 
old when he arrived in the land of      
,israel4  #b4 ,since the departure      
therefrom of ,issa1 the ,pagans had     
caused the ,israelites to endure more   
atrocious sufferings than before1 and   
they were filled with despair4  #c4     
,many among them had begun to neglect   
the laws of their ,god and those of     
,mossa1 in the hope of winning the favor
 of their brutal conquerors4  #d4 ,but  
,issa1 notwithstanding their unhappy    
condition1 exhorted his countrymen not  
to despair1 because the day of their    
redemption from the yoke of sin was     
near1 and he himself1 by his example1   
confirmed their faith in the ,god of    
their fathers4  #e4 ,children1 yield not
 yourselves to despair1 said the        
celestial ,father to them1 through the  

mouth of ,issa1 for ,i have heard your  
lamentations1 and your cries have       
reached my ears4  #f4 ,weep not1 oh1 my 
beloved sons6 for your griefs have      
touched the heart of your ,father and   
,he has forgiven you1 as ,he forgave    
your ancestors4  #g4 ,forsake not your  
families to plunge into debauchery2     
stain not the nobility of your souls2   
adore not idols which cannot but remain 
deaf to your supplications4  #h4 ,fill  
my temple with your hope and your       
patience1 and do not adjure the religion
 of your forefathers1 for ,i have guided
 them and bestowed upon them of my      
beneficence4  #i4 ,lift up those who are
 fallen2 feed the hungry and help the   
sick1 that ye may be altogether pure and
 just in the day of the last judgment   
which ,i prepare for you4  #aj4 ,the    
,israelites came in multitudes to listen
 to ,issa's words2 and they asked him   
where they should thank their ,heavenly 
,father1 since their enemies had        
demolished their temples and robbed them

 of their sacred vessels4  #aa4 ,issa   
told them that ,god cared not for       
temples erected by human hands1 but that
 human hearts were the true temples of  
,god4  #ab4 ,enter into your temple1    
into your heart2 illuminate it with good
 thoughts1 with patience and the        
unshakeable faith which you owe to your 
,father4  #ac4 ,and your sacred vessels6
 they are your hands and your eyes4     
,look to do that which is agreeable to  
,god1 for in doing good to your fellow  
men1 you perform a ceremony that        
embellishes the temple wherein abideth  
,him who has created you4  #ad4 ,for    
,god has created you in ,his own image1 
innocent1 with pure souls1 and hearts   
filled with kindness and not made for   
the planning of evil1 but to be the     
sanctuaries of love and justice4  #ae4  
,therefore1 ,i say unto you1 soil not   
your hearts with evil1 for in them the  
eternal ,being abides4  #af4 ,when ye do
 works of devotion and love1 let them be
 with full hearts1 and see that the     

motives of your actions be not hopes of 
gain or self-interest2  #ag4 ,for       
actions1 so impelled1 will not bring you
 nearer to salvation1 but lead to a     
state of moral degradation wherein      
theft1 lying and murder pass for        
generous deeds4   ,x4  #a4 ,issa went   
from one city to another1 strengthening 
by the word of ,god the courage of the  
,israelites1 who were near to succumbing
 under their weight of woe1 and         
thousands of the people followed him to 
hear his teachings4  #b4 ,but the chiefs
 of the cities were afraid of him and   
they informed the principal governor1   
residing in ,jerusalem1 that a man      
called ,issa had arrived in the country1
 who by his sermons had arrayed the     
people against the authorities1 and that
 multitudes1 listening assiduously to   
him1 neglected their labor2 and1 they   
added1 he said that in a short time they
 would be free of their invader rulers4 
#c4 ,then ,pilate1 the ,governor of     
,jerusalem1 gave orders that they should

 lay hold of the preacher ,issa and     
bring him before the judges4 ,in order1 
however1 not to excite the anger of the 
populace1 ,pilate directed that he      
should be judged by the priests and     
scribes1 the ,hebrew elders1 in their   
temple4  #d4 ,meanwhile1 ,issa1         
continuing his preaching1 arrived at    
,jerusalem1 and the people1 who already 
knew his fame1 having learned of his    
coming1 went out to meet him4  #e4 ,they
 greeted him respectfully and opened to 
him the doors of their temple1 to hear  
from his mouth what he had said in other
 cities of ,israel4  #f4 ,and ,issa said
 to them3 ,the human race perishes1     
because of the lack of faith2 for the   
darkness and the tempest have caused the
 flock to go astray and they have lost  
their shepherds4  #g4 ,but the tempests 
do not rage forever and the darkness    
will not hide the light eternally2 soon 
the sky will become serene1 the         
celestial light will again overspread   
the earth1 and the strayed flock will   

reunite around their shepherd4  #h4     
,wander not in the darkness1 seeking the
 way1 lest ye fall into the ditch2 but  
gather together1 sustain one another1   
put your faith in your ,god and wait for
 the first glimmer of light to reappear4
  #i4 ,he who sustains his neighbor1    
sustains himself2 and he who protects   
his family1 protects all his people and 
his country4  #aj4 ,for1 be assured that
 the day is near when you will be       
delivered from the darkness2 you will be
 reunited into one family and your enemy
 will tremble with fear1 he who is      
ignorant of the favor of the great ,god4
  #aa4 ,the priests and the elders who  
heard him1 filled with admiration for   
his language1 asked him if it was true  
that he had sought to raise the people  
against the authorities of the country1 
as had been reported to the governor    
,pilate4  #ab4 ,can one raise against   
estrayed men1 to whom darkness has      
hidden their road and their door8       
answered ,issa4 ,i have but forewarned  

the unhappy1 as ,i do here in this      
temple1 that they should no longer      
advance on the dark road1 for an abyss  
opens before their feet4  #ac4 ,the     
power of this earth is not of long      
duration and is subject to numberless   
changes4 ,it would be of no avail for a 
man to rise in revolution against it1   
for one phase of it always succeeds     
another1 and it is thus that it will go 
on until the extinction of human life4  
#ad4 ,but do you not see that the       
powerful1 and the rich1 sow among the   
children of ,israel a spirit of         
rebellion against the eternal power of  
,heaven8  #ae4 ,then the elders asked   
him3 ,who art thou1 and from what       
country hast thou come to us8 ,we have  
not formerly heard thee spoken of and do
 not even know thy name6  #af4 ,i am an 
,israelite1 answered ,issa2 and on the  
day of my birth have seen the walls of  
,jerusalem1 and have heard the sobs of  
my brothers reduced to slavery1 and the 
lamentations of my sisters carried away 

by the ,pagans2  #ag4 ,and my soul was  
afflicted when ,i saw that my brethren  
had forgotten the true ,god4 ,when a    
child ,i left my father's house to go   
and settle among other people4  #ah4    
,but1 having heard it said that my      
brethren suffered even greater miseries 
now1 ,i have come back to the land of my
 fathers1 to recall my brethren to the  
faith of their ancestors1 which teaches 
us patience upon earth in order to      
attain the perfect and supreme bliss    
above4  #ai4 ,then the wise old men put 
to him again this question3 ,we are told
 that thou disownest the laws of ,mossa1
 and that thou teachest the people to   
forsake the temple of ,god8  #bj4       
,whereupon ,issa3 ,one does not demolish
 that which has been given by our       
,heavenly ,father1 and which has been   
destroyed by sinners4 ,i have but       
enjoined the people to purify the heart 
of all stains1 for it is the veritable  
temple of ,god4  #ba4 ,as regards the   
laws of ,mossa1 ,i have endeavored to   

reestablish them in the hearts of men2  
and ,i say unto you that ye ignore their
 true meaning1 for it is not vengeance  
but pardon which they teach4 ,their     
sense has been perverted4   ,,xi4  #a4  
,when the priests and the elders heard  
,issa1 they decided among themselves not
 to give judgment against him1 for he   
had done no harm to any one1 and1       
presenting themselves before            
,pilate--who was made ,governor of      
,jerusalem by the ,pagan king of the    
country of ,romeles--they spake to him  
thus3  #b4 ,we have seen the man whom   
thou chargest with inciting our people  
to revolt2 we have heard his discourses 
and know that he is our countryman2  #c4
 ,but the chiefs of the cities have made
 to you false reports1 for he is a just 
man1 who teaches the people the word of 
,god4 ,after interrogating him1 we have 
allowed him to go in peace4  #d4 ,the   
governor thereupon became very angry1   
and sent his disguised spies to keep    
watch upon ,issa and report to the      

authorities the least word he addressed 
to the people4  #e4 ,in the meantime1   
the holy ,issa continued to visit the   
neighboring cities and preach the true  
way of the ,lord1 enjoining the         
,hebrews' patience and promising them   
speedy deliverance4  #f4 ,and all the   
time great numbers of the people        
followed him wherever he went1 and many 
did not leave him at all1 but attached  
themselves to him and served him4  #g4  
,and ,issa said3 ,put not your faith in 
miracles performed by the hands of men1 
for ,he who rules nature is alone       
capable of doing supernatural things1   
while man is impotent to arrest the     
wrath of the winds or cause the rain to 
fall4  #h4 ,one miracle1 however1 is    
within the power of man to accomplish4  
,it is1 when his heart is filled with   
sincere faith1 he resolves to root out  
from his mind all evil promptings and   
desires1 and when1 in order to attain   
this end1 he ceases to walk the path of 
iniquity4  #i4 ,all the things done     

without ,god are only gross errors1     
illusions and seductions1 serving but to
 show how much the heart of the doer is 
full of presumption1 falsehood and      
impurity4  #aj4 ,put not your faith in  
oracles4 ,god alone knows the future4   
,he who has recourse to the diviners    
soils the temple of his heart and shows 
his lack of faith in his ,creator4  #aa4
 ,belief in the diviners and their      
miracles destroys the innate simplicity 
of man and his childlike purity4 ,an    
infernal power takes hold of him who so 
errs1 and forces him to commit various  
sins and give himself to the worship of 
idols4  #ab4 ,but the ,lord our ,god1 to
 whom none can be equalled1 is one      
omnipotent1 omniscient and omnipresent2 
,he alone possesses all wisdom and all  
light4  #ac4 ,to ,him ye must address   
yourselves1 to be comforted in your     
afflictions1 aided in your works1 healed
 in your sickness and whoso asks of     
,him1 shall not ask in vain4  #ad4 ,the 
secrets of nature are in the hands of   

,god1 for the whole world1 before it was
 made manifest1 existed in the bosom of 
the divine thought1 and has become      
material and visible by the will of the 
,most ,high4  #ae4 ,when ye pray to him1
 become again like little children1 for 
ye know neither the past1 nor the       
present1 nor the future1 and ,god is the
 ,lord of ,time4   ,,xii4  #a4 ,just    
man1 said to him the disguised spies of 
the ,governor of ,jerusalem1 tell us if 
we must continue to do the will of      
,csar1 or expect our near deliverance8  
#b4 ,and ,issa1 who recognized the      
questioners as the apostate spies sent  
to follow him1 replied to them3 ,i have 
not told you that you would be delivered
 from ,csar2 it is the soul sunk in     
error which will gain its deliverance4  
#c4 ,there cannot be a family without a 
head1 and there cannot be order in a    
people without a ,csar1 whom ye should  
implicitly obey1 as he will be held to  
answer for his acts before the ,supreme 
,tribunal4  #d4 ,does ,csar possess a   

divine right8 the spies asked him again2
 and is he the best of mortals8  #e4    
,there is no one 'the best' among human 
beings2 but there are many bad1         
who--even as the sick need              
physicians--require the care of those   
chosen for that mission1 in which must  
be used the means given by the sacred   
law of our ,heavenly ,father2  #f4      
,mercy and justice are the high         
prerogatives of ,csar1 and his name will
 be illustrious if he exercises them4   
#g4 ,but he who acts otherwise1 who     
transcends the limits of power he has   
over those under his rule1 and even goes
 so far as to put their lives in danger1
 offends the great ,judge and derogates 
from his own dignity in the eyes of men4
  #h4 ,upon this1 an old woman who had  
approached the group1 to better hear    
,issa1 was pushed aside by one of the   
disguised men1 who placed himself before
 her4  #i4 ,then said ,issa3 ,it is not 
good for a son to push away his mother1 
that he may occupy the place which      

belongs to her4 ,whoso doth not respect 
his mother--the most sacred being after 
his ,god--is unworthy of the name of    
son4  #aj4 ,hearken to what ,i say to   
you3 ,respect woman2 for in her we see  
the mother of the universe1 and all the 
truth of divine creation is to come     
through her4  #aa4 ,she is the fount of 
everything good and beautiful1 as she is
 also the germ of life and death4 ,upon 
her man depends in all his existence1   
for she is his moral and natural support
 in his labors4  #ab4 ,in pain and      
suffering she brings you forth2 in the  
sweat of her brow she watches over your 
growth1 and until her death you cause   
her greatest anxieties4 ,bless her and  
adore her1 for she is your only friend  
and support on earth4  #ac4 ,respect    
her2 defend her4 ,in so doing you will  
gain for yourself her love2 you will    
find favor before ,god1 and for her sake
 many sins will be remitted to you4     
#ad4 ,love your wives and respect them1 
for they will be the mothers of tomorrow

 and later the grandmothers of a whole  
nation4  #ae4 ,be submissive to the     
wife2 her love ennobles man1 softens his
 hardened heart1 tames the wild beast in
 him and changes it to a lamb4  #af4    
,wife and mother are the priceless      
treasures which ,god has given to you4  
,they are the most beautiful ornaments  
of the universe1 and from them will be  
born all who will inhabit the world4    
#ag4 ,even as the ,lord of ,hosts       
separated the light from the darkness1  
and the dry land from the waters1 so    
does woman possess the divine gift of   
calling forth out of man's evil nature  
all the good that is in him4  #ah4      
,therefore ,i say unto you1 after ,god1 
to woman must belong your best thoughts1
 for she is the divine temple where you 
will most easily obtain perfect         
happiness4  #ai4 ,draw from this temple 
your moral force4 ,there you will forget
 your sorrows and your failures1 and    
recover the love necessary to aid your  
fellow men4  #bj4 ,suffer her not to be 

humiliated1 for by humiliating her you  
humiliate yourselves1 and lose the      
sentiment of love1 without which nothing
 can exist here on earth4  #ba4 ,protect
 your wife1 that she may protect        
you--you and all your household4 ,all   
that you do for your mothers1 your      
wives1 for a widow1 or for any other    
woman in distress1 you will do for your 
,god4   ,,xiii4  #a4 ,thus ,saint ,issa 
taught the people of ,israel for three  
years1 in every city and every village1 
on the highways and in the fields1 and  
all he said came to pass4  #b4 ,all this
 time the disguised spies of the        
governor ,pilate observed him closely1  
but heard nothing to sustain the        
accusations formerly made against ,issa 
by the chiefs of the cities4  #c4 ,but  
,saint ,issa's growing popularity did   
not allow ,pilate to rest4 ,he feared   
that ,issa would be instrumental in     
bringing about a revolution culminating 
in his elevation to the sovereignty1    
and1 therefore1 ordered the spies to    

make charges against him4  #d4 ,then    
soldiers were sent to arrest him1 and   
they cast him into a subterranean       
dungeon1 where he was subjected to all  
kinds of tortures1 to compel him to     
accuse himself1 so that he might be put 
to death4  #e4 ,the ,saint1 thinking    
only of the perfect bliss of his        
brethren1 endured all those torments    
with resignation to the will of the     
,creator4  #f4 ,the servants of ,pilate 
continued to torture him1 and he was    
reduced to a state of extreme weakness2 
but ,god was with him and did not permit
 him to die at their hands4  #g4 ,when  
the principal priests and wise elders   
learned of the sufferings which their   
,saint endured1 they went to ,pilate1   
begging him to liberate ,issa1 so that  
he might attend the great festival which
 was near at hand4  #h4 ,but this the   
governor refused4 ,then they asked him  
that ,issa should be brought before the 
elders' council1 so that he might be    
condemned1 or acquitted1 before the     

festival1 and to this ,pilate agreed4   
#i4 ,on the following day the governor  
assembled the principal chiefs1 priests1
 elders and judges1 for the purpose of  
judging ,issa4  #aj4 ,the ,saint was    
brought from his prison4 ,they made him 
sit before the governor1 between two    
robbers1 who were to be judged at the   
same time with ,issa1 so as to show the 
people he was not the only one to be    
condemned4  #aa4 ,and ,pilate1          
addressing himself to ,issa1 said1 ,is  
it true1 ,oh6 ,man2 that thou incitest  
the populace against the authorities1   
with the purpose of thyself becoming    
,king of ,israel8  #ab4 ,issa replied1  
,one does not become king by one's own  
purpose thereto4 ,they have told you an 
untruth when you were informed that ,i  
was inciting the people to revolution4  
,i have only preached of the ,king of   
,heaven1 and it was ,him whom ,i told   
the people to worship4  #ac4 ,for the   
sons of ,israel have lost their original
 innocence and unless they return to    

worship the true ,god they will be      
sacrificed and their temple will fall in
 ruins4  #ad4 ,the worldly power upholds
 order in the land2 ,i told them not to 
forget this4 ,i said to them1 ',live in 
conformity with your situation and      
refrain from disturbing public order2'  
and1 at the same time1 ,i exhorted them 
to remember that disorder reigned in    
their own hearts and spirits4  #ae4     
,therefore1 the ,king of ,heaven has    
punished them1 and has destroyed their  
nationality and taken from them their   
national kings1 'but1' ,i added1 'if you
 will be resigned to your fate1 as a    
reward the ,kingdom of ,heaven will be  
yours4'  #af4 ,at this moment the       
witnesses were introduced2 one of whom  
deposed thus3 ,thou hast said to the    
people that in comparison with the power
 of the king who would soon liberate the
 ,israelites from the yoke of the       
heathen1 the worldly authorities        
amounted to nothing4  #ag4 ,blessings   
upon thee6 said ,issa4 ,for thou hast   

spoken the truth6 ,the ,king of ,heaven 
is greater and more powerful than the   
laws of man and ,his kingdom surpasses  
the kingdoms of this earth4  #ah4 ,and  
the time is not far off1 when ,israel1  
obedient to the will of ,god1 will throw
 off its yoke of sin2 for it has been   
written that a forerunner would appear  
to announce the deliverance of the      
people1 and that he would reunite them  
in one family4  #ai4 ,thereupon the     
governor said to the judges3 ,have you  
heard this8 ,the ,israelite ,issa       
acknowledges the crime of which he is   
accused4 ,judge him1 then1 according to 
your laws and pass upon him condemnation
 to death4  #bj4 ,we cannot condemn him1
 replied the priests and the ancients4  
,as thou hast heard1 he spoke of the    
,king of ,heaven1 and he has preached   
nothing which constitutes               
insubordination against the law4  #ba4  
,thereupon the governor called a witness
 who had been bribed by his master1     
,pilate1 to betray ,issa1 and this man  

said to ,issa3 ,is it not true that thou
 hast represented thyself as a ,king of 
,israel1 when thou didst say that ,he   
who reigns in ,heaven sent thee to      
prepare ,his people8  #bb4 ,but ,issa   
blessed the man and answered3 ,thou wilt
 find mercy1 for what thou hast said did
 not come out from thine own heart4     
,then1 turning to the governor he said3 
,why dost thou lower thy dignity and    
teach thy inferiors to tell falsehood1  
when1 without doing so1 it is in thy    
power to condemn an innocent man8  #bc4 
,when ,pilate heard his words1 he became
 greatly enraged and ordered that ,issa 
be condemned to death1 and that the two 
robbers should be declared guiltless4   
#bd4 ,the judges1 after consulting among
 themselves1 said to ,pilate3 ,we cannot
 consent to take this great sin upon    
us1--to condemn an innocent man and     
liberate malefactors4 ,it would be      
against our laws4  #be4 ,act thyself1   
then1 as thou seest fit4 ,thereupon the 
priests and elders walked out1 and      

washed their hands in a sacred vessel1  
and said3 ,we are innocent of the blood 
of this righteous man4   ,,xiv4  #a4 ,by
 order of the governor1 the soldiers    
seized ,issa and the two robbers1 and   
led them to the place of execution1     
where they were nailed upon the crosses 
erected for them4  #b4 ,all day long the
 bodies of ,issa and the two robbers    
hung upon the crosses1 bleeding1 guarded
 by the soldiers4 ,the people stood all 
around and the relatives of the executed
 prayed and wept4  #c4 ,when the sun    
went down1 ,issa's tortures ended4 ,he  
lost consciousness and his soul         
disengaged itself from the body1 to     
reunite with ,god4  #d4 ,thus ended the 
terrestrial existence of the reflection 
of the eternal ,spirit under the form of
 a man who had saved hardened sinners   
and comforted the afflicted4  #e4       
,meanwhile1 ,pilate was afraid for what 
he had done1 and ordered the body of the
 ,saint to be given to his relatives1   
who put it in a tomb near to the place  

of execution4 ,great numbers of persons 
came to visit the tomb1 and the air was 
filled with their wailings and          
lamentations4  #f4 ,three days later1   
the governor sent his soldiers to remove
 ,issa's body and bury it in some other 
place1 for he feared a rebellion among  
the people4  #g4 ,the next day1 when the
 people came to the tomb1 they found it 
open and empty1 the body of ,issa being 
gone4 ,thereupon1 the rumor spread that 
the ,supreme ,judge had sent ,his angels
 from ,heaven1 to remove the mortal     
remains of the saint in whom part of the
 divine ,spirit had lived on earth4  #h4
 ,when ,pilate learned of this rumor1 he
 grew angry and prohibited1 under       
penalty of death1 the naming of ,issa1  
or praying for him to the ,lord4  #i4   
,but the people1 nevertheless1 continued
 to weep over ,issa's death and to      
glorify their master2 wherefore1 many   
were carried into captivity1 subjected  
to torture and put to death4  #aj4 ,and 
the disciples of ,saint ,issa departed  

from the land of ,israel and went in all
 directions1 to the heathen1 preaching  
that they should abandon their gross    
errors1 think of the salvation of their 
souls and earn the perfect bliss which  
awaits human beings in the immaterial   
world1 full of glory1 where the great   
,creator abides in all his immaculate   
and perfect majesty4  #aa4 ,the heathen1
 their kings1 and their warriors1       
listened to the preachers1 abandoned    
their erroneous beliefs and forsook     
their priests and their idols1 to       
celebrate the praises of the most wise  
,creator of the ,universe1 the ,king of 
,kings1 whose heart is filled with      
infinite mercy4     ,resum   ,in reading
 the account of the life of ,issa       
7,jesus ,christ71 one is struck1 on the 
one hand by the resemblance of certain  
principal passages to accounts in the   
,old and ,new ,testaments2 and1 on the  
other1 by the not less remarkable       
contradictions which occasionally occur 
between the ,buddhistic version and     

,hebraic and ,christian records4  ,to   
explain this1 it is necessary to        
remember the epochs when the facts were 
consigned to writing4  ,we have been    
taught1 from our childhood1 that the    
,pentateuch was written by ,moses       
himself1 but the careful researches of  
modern scholars have demonstrated       
conclusively1 that at the time of       
,moses1 and even much later1 there      
existed in the country bathed by the    
,mediterranean1 no other writing than   
the hieroglyphics in ,egypt and the     
cuniform inscriptions1 found nowadays in
 the excavations of ,babylon4 ,we know1 
however1 that the alphabet and parchment
 were known in ,china and ,india long   
before ,moses4  ,let me cite a few      
proofs of this statement4 ,we learn from
 the sacred books of the religion of the
 wise that the alphabet was invented in 
,china in #bhjj by ,fou-si1 who was the 
first emperor of ,china to embrace this 
religion1 the ritual and exterior forms 
of which he himself arranged4 ,yao1 the 

fourth of the ,chinese emperors1 who is 
said to have belonged to this faith1    
published moral and civil laws1 and1 in 
#bbbh1 compiled a penal code4 ,the fifth
 emperor1 ,soune1 proclaimed in the year
 of his accession to the throne that the
 religion of the wise should thenceforth
 be the recognized religion of the      
,state1 and1 in #bbhb1 compiled new     
penal laws4 ,his laws1 modified by the  
,emperor ,vou-vange1--founder of the    
dynasty of the ,tcheou in #aabb1--;are  
those in existence today1 and known     
under the name of ,changements4  ,we    
also know that the doctrine of the      
,buddha ,f1 whose true name was         
,sakya-,muni was written upon parchment4
 ,fism began to spread in ,china about  
#bfj years before ,jesus ,christ4 ,in   
#bjf1 an emperor of the ,tsine dynasty1 
who was anxious to learn ,buddhism1 sent
 to ,india for a ,buddhist by the name  
of ,silifan1 and the ,emperor ,ming-,ti1
 of the ,hagne dynasty1 sent1 a year    
before ,christ's birth1 to ,india for   

the sacred books written by the ,buddha 
,sakya-,muni--the founder of the        
,buddhistic doctrine1 who lived about   
#abjj before ,christ4  ,the doctrine of 
the ,buddha ,gauthama or ,gothama1 who  
lived #fjj years before ,jesus ,christ1 
was written in the ,pali language upon  
parchment4 ,at that epoch there existed 
already in ,india about #hd1jjj         
,buddhistic manuscripts1 the compilation
 of which required a considerable number
 of years4  ,at the time when the       
,chinese and the ,hindus possessed      
already a very rich written literature1 
the less fortunate or more ignorant     
peoples who had no alphabet1 transmitted
 their histories from mouth to mouth1   
and from generation to generation4      
,owing to the unreliability of human    
memory1 historical facts1 embellished by
 ,oriental imagination1 soon degenerated
 into fabulous legends1 which1 in the   
course of time1 were collected1 and by  
the unknown compilers entitled ,the     
,five ,books of ,moses4 ,as these       

legends ascribe to the ,hebrew          
legislator extraordinary divine powers  
which enabled him to perform miracles in
 the presence of ,pharaoh1 the claim    
that he was an ,israelite may as well   
have been legendary rather than         
historical4  ,the ,hindu chroniclers1 on
 the contrary1 owing to their knowledge 
of an alphabet1 were enabled to commit  
carefully to writing1 not mere legends1 
but the recitals of recently occurred   
facts within their own knowledge1 or the
 accounts brought to them by merchants  
who came from foreign countries4  ,it   
must be remembered1 in this connection1 
that--in antiquity as in our own        
days--the whole public life of the      
,orient was concentrated in the bazaars4
 ,there the news of foreign events was  
brought by the merchant-caravans and    
sought by the dervishes1 who found1 in  
their recitals in the temples and public
 places1 a means of subsistence4 ,when  
the merchants returned home from a      
journey1 they generally related fully   

during the first days after their       
arrival1 all they had seen or heard     
abroad4 ,such have been the customs of  
the ,orient1 from time immemorial1 and  
are today4  ,the commerce of ,india with
 ,egypt and1 later1 with ,europe1 was   
carried on by way of ,jerusalem1 where1 
as far back as the time of ,king        
,solomon1 the ,hindu caravans brought   
precious metals and other materials for 
the construction of the temple4 ,from   
,europe1 merchandise was brought to     
,jerusalem by sea1 and there unloaded in
 a port1 which is now occupied by the   
city of ,jaffa4 ,the chronicles in      
question were compiled before1 during   
and after the time of ,jesus ,christ4   
,during his sojourn in ,india1 in the   
quality of a simple student come to     
learn the ,brahminical and ,buddhistic  
laws1 no special attention whatever was 
paid to his life4 ,when1 however1 a     
little later1 the first accounts of the 
events in ,israel reached ,india1 the   
chroniclers1 after committing to writing

 that which they were told about the    
prophet1 ,issa1--viz41 that he had for  
his following a whole people1 weary of  
the yoke of their masters1 and that he  
was crucified by order of ,pilate1      
remembered that this same ,issa had only
 recently sojourned in their midst1 and 
that1 an ,israelite by birth1 he had    
come to study among them1 after which he
 had returned to his country4 ,they     
conceived a lively interest for the man 
who had grown so rapidly under their    
eyes1 and began to investigate his      
birth1 his past and all the details     
concerning his existence4  ,the two     
manuscripts1 from which the lama of the 
convent ,himis read to me all that had a
 bearing upon ,jesus1 are compilations  
from divers copies written in the       
,thibetan language1 translations of     
scrolls belonging to the library of     
,lhassa and brought1 about two hundred  
years after ,christ1 from ,india1       
,nepaul and ,maghada1 to a convent on   
,mount ,marbour1 near the city of       

,lhassa1 now the residence of the       
,dalai-,lama4  ,these scrolls were      
written in ,pali1 which certain lamas   
study even now1 so as to be able to     
translate it into the ,thibetan4  ,the  
chroniclers were ,buddhists belonging to
 the sect of the ,buddha ,gothama4  ,the
 details concerning ,jesus1 given in the
 chronicles1 are disconnected and       
mingled with accounts of other          
contemporaneous events to which they    
bear no relation4  ,the manuscripts     
relate to us1 first of all1--according  
to the accounts given by merchants      
arriving from ,judea in the same year   
when the death of ,jesus occurred--that 
a just man by the name of ,issa1 an     
,israelite1 in spite of his being       
acquitted twice by the judges as being a
 man of ,god1 was nevertheless put to   
death by the order of the ,pagan        
governor1 ,pilate1 who feared that he   
might take advantage of his great       
popularity to reestablish the kingdom of
 ,israel and expel from the country its 

conquerors4  ,then follow rather        
incoherent communications regarding the 
preachings of ,jesus among the ,guebers 
and other heathens4 ,they seem to have  
been written during the first years     
following the death of ,jesus1 in whose 
career a lively and growing interest is 
shown4  ,one of these accounts1         
communicated by a merchant1 refers to   
the origin of ,jesus and his family2    
another tells of the expulsion of his   
partisans and the persecutions they had 
to suffer4  ,only at the end of the     
second volume is found the first        
categorical affirmation of the          
chronicler4 ,he says there that ,issa   
was a man blessed by ,god and the best  
of all2 that it was he in whom the great
 ,brahma had elected to incarnate when1 
at a period fixed by destiny1 his spirit
 was required to1 for a time1 separate  
from the ,supreme ,being4  ,after       
telling that ,issa descended from poor  
,israelite parents1 the chronicler makes
 a little digression1 for the purpose of

 explaining1 according to ancient       
accounts1 who were those sons of        
,israel4  ,i have arranged all the      
fragments concerning the life of ,issa  
in chronological order and have taken   
pains to impress upon them the character
 of unity1 in which they were absolutely
 lacking4  ,i leave it to the savans1   
the philosophers and the theologians to 
search into the causes for the          
contradictions which may be found       
between the ,life of ,issa which ,i lay 
before the public and the accounts of   
the ,gospels4 ,but ,i trust that        
everybody will agree with me in assuming
 that the version which ,i present to   
the public1 one compiled three or four  
years after the death of ,jesus1 from   
the accounts of eyewitnesses and        
contemporaries1 has much more           
probability of being in conformity with 
truth than the accounts of the ,gospels1
 the composition of which was effected  
at different epochs and at periods much 
posterior to the occurrence of the      

events4  ,before speaking of the life of
 ,jesus1 ,i must say a few words on the 
history of ,moses1 who1 according to the
 so-far most accredited legend1 was an  
,israelite4 ,in this respect the legend 
is contradicted by the ,buddhists4 ,we  
learn from the outset that ,moses was an
 ,egyptian prince1 the son of a         
,pharaoh1 and that he only was taught by
 learned ,israelites4 ,i believe that if
 this important point is carefully      
examined1 it must be admitted that the  
,buddhist author may be right4  ,it is  
not my intent to argue against the      
,biblical legend concerning the origin  
of ,moses1 but ,i think everyone reading
 it must share my conviction that ,moses
 could not have been a simple           
,israelite4 ,his education was rather   
that of a king's son1 and it is         
difficult to believe that a child       
introduced by chance into the palace    
should have been made an equal with the 
son of the sovereign4 ,the rigor with   
which the ,egyptians treated their      

slaves by no means attests the mildness 
of their character4 ,a foundling        
certainly would not have been made the  
companion of the sons of a ,pharaoh1 but
 would be placed among his servants4    
,add to this the caste spirit so        
strictly observed in ancient ,egypt1 a  
most salient point1 which is certainly  
calculated to raise doubts as to the    
truth of the ,scriptural story4  ,and it
 is difficult to suppose that ,moses had
 not received a complete education4 ,how
 otherwise could his great legislative  
work1 his broad views1 his high         
administrative qualities be             
satisfactorily explained8  ,and now     
comes another question3 ,why should he1 
a prince1 have attached himself to the  
,israelites8 ,the answer seems to me    
very simple4 ,it is known that in       
ancient1 as well as in modern times1    
discussions were often raised as to     
which of two brothers should succeed to 
the father's throne4 ,why not admit this
 hypothesis1 viz41 that ,mossa1 or      

,moses1 having an elder brother whose   
existence forbade him to think of       
occupying the throne of ,egypt1         
contemplated founding a distinct        
kingdom4  ,it might very well be that1  
in view of this end1 he tried to attach 
himself to the ,israelites1 whose       
firmness of faith as well as physical   
strength he had occasion to admire4 ,we 
know1 indeed1 that the ,israelites of   
,egypt had no resemblance whatever to   
their descendants as regards physical   
constitution4 ,the granite blocks which 
were handled by them in building the    
palaces and pyramids are still in place 
to testify to this fact4 ,in the same   
way ,i explain to myself the history of 
the miracles which he is said to have   
performed before ,pharaoh4  ,although   
there are no definite arguments for     
denying the miracles which ,moses might 
have performed in the name of ,god      
before ,pharaoh1 ,i think it is not     
difficult to realize that the           
,buddhistic statement sounds more       

probable than the ,scriptural gloss4    
,the pestilence1 the smallpox or the    
cholera must1 indeed1 have caused       
enormous ravages among the dense        
population of ,egypt1 at an epoch when  
there existed yet but very rudimentary  
ideas about hygiene and where1          
consequently1 such diseases must have   
rapidly assumed frightful virulence4    
,in view of ,pharaoh's fright at the    
disasters which befell ,egypt1 ,moses'  
keen wit might well have suggested to   
him to explain the strange and          
terrifying occurrences1 to his father1  
by the intervention of the ,god of      
,israel in behalf of his chosen people4 
,moses was here afforded an excellent   
opportunity to deliver the ,israelites  
from their slavery and have them pass   
under his own domination4  ,in obedience
 to ,pharaoh's will--according to the   
,buddhistic version--,moses led the     
,israelites outside the walls of the    
city2 but1 instead of building a new    
city within reach of the capital1 as he 

was ordered1 he left with them the      
,egyptian territory4 ,pharaoh's         
indignation on learning of this         
infringement of his commands by ,moses1 
can easily be imagined4 ,and so he gave 
the order to his soldiers to pursue the 
fugitives4 ,the geographical disposition
 of the region suggests at once that    
,moses during his flight must have moved
 by the side of the mountains and       
entered ,arabia by the way over the     
,isthmus which is now cut by the ,suez  
,canal4  ,pharaoh1 on the contrary1     
pursued1 with his troops1 a straight    
line to the ,red ,sea2 then1 in order to
 overtake the ,israelites1 who had      
already gained the opposite shore1 he   
sought to take advantage of the ebb of  
the sea in the ,gulf1 which is formed by
 the coast and the ,isthmus1 and caused 
his soldiers to wade through the ford4  
,but the length of the passage proved   
much greater than he had expected2 so   
that the flood tide set in when the     
,egyptian host was halfway across1 and1 

of the army thus overwhelmed by the     
returning waves1 none escaped death4    
,this fact1 so simple in itself1 has in 
the course of the centuries been        
transformed by the ,israelites into a   
religious legend1 they seeing in it a   
divine intervention in their behalf and 
a punishment which their ,god inflicted 
on their persecutors4 ,there is1        
moreover1 reason to believe that ,moses 
himself saw the occurrence in this      
light4 ,this1 however1 is a thesis which
 ,i shall try to develop in a           
forthcoming work4  ,the ,buddhistic     
chronicle then describes the grandeur   
and the downfall of the kingdom of      
,israel1 and its conquest by the foreign
 nations who reduced the inhabitants to 
slavery4  ,the calamities which befell  
the ,israelites1 and the afflictions    
that thenceforth embittered their days  
were1 according to the chronicler1 more 
than sufficient reasons that ,god1      
pitying his people and desirous of      
coming to their aid1 should descend on  

earth in the person of a prophet1 in    
order to lead them back to the path of  
righteousness4  ,thus the state of      
things in that epoch justified the      
belief that the coming of ,jesus was    
signalized1 imminent1 necessary4  ,this 
explains why the ,buddhistic traditions 
could maintain that the eternal ,spirit 
separated from the eternal ,being and   
incarnated in the child of a pious and  
once illustrious family4  ,doubtless the
 ,buddhists1 in common with the         
,evangelists1 meant to convey by this   
that the child belonged to the royal    
house of ,david2 but the text in the    
,gospels1 according to which the child  
was born from the ,holy ,spirit1 admits 
of two interpretations1 while according 
to ,buddha's doctrine1 which is more in 
conformity with the laws of nature1 the 
spirit has but incarnated in a child    
already born1 whom ,god blessed and     
chose for the accomplishment of ,his    
mission on earth4  ,the birth of ,jesus 
is followed by a long gap in the        

traditions of the ,evangelists1 who     
either from ignorance or neglect1 fail  
to tell us anything definite about his  
childhood1 youth or education4 ,they    
commence the history of ,jesus with his 
first sermon1 i4e41 at the epoch1 when  
thirty years of age1 he returns to his  
country4  ,all the ,evangelists tell us 
concerning the infancy of ,jesus is     
marked by the lack of precision3 ,and   
the child grew1 and waxed strong in     
spirit1 filled with wisdom2 and the     
grace of ,god was upon him1 says one of 
the sacred authors 7,luke #b1 #dj71 and 
another3 ,and the child grew1 and waxed 
strong in spirit1 and was in the deserts
 till the day of his shewing unto       
,israel4 7,luke #a1 #hj47  ,as the      
,evangelists compiled their writings a  
long time after the death of ,jesus1 it 
is presumable that they committed to    
writing only those accounts of the      
principal events in the life of ,jesus  
which happened to come to their         
knowledge4  ,the ,buddhists1 on the     

contrary1 who compiled their chronicles 
soon after the ,passion occurred1 and   
were able to collect the surest         
information about everything that       
interested them1 give us a complete and 
very detailed description of the life of
 ,jesus4  ,in those unhappy times1 when 
the struggle for existence seems to have
 destroyed all thought of ,god1 the     
people of ,israel suffered the double   
oppression of the ambitious ,herod and  
the despotic and avaricious ,romans4    
,then1 as now1 the ,hebrews put all     
their hopes in ,providence1 whom they   
expected1 would send them an inspired   
man1 who should deliver them from all   
their physical and moral afflictions4   
,the time passed1 however1 and no one   
took the initiative in a revolt against 
the tyranny of the rulers4  ,in that era
 of hope and despair1 the people of     
,israel completely forgot that there    
lived among them a poor ,israelite who  
was a direct descendant from their ,king
 ,david4 ,this poor man married a young 

girl who gave birth to a miraculous     
child4  ,the ,hebrews1 true to their    
traditions of devotion and respect for  
the race of their kings1 upon learning  
of this event went in great numbers to  
congratulate the happy father and see   
the child4 ,it is evident that ,herod   
was informed of this occurrence4 ,he    
feared that this infant1 once grown to  
manhood1 might avail himself of his     
prospective popularity to reconquer the 
throne of his ancestors4 ,he sent out   
his men to seize the child1 which the   
,israelites endeavored to hide from the 
wrath of the king1 who then ordered the 
abominable massacre of the children1    
hoping that ,jesus would perish in this 
vast human hecatomb4 ,but ,joseph's     
family had warning of the impending     
danger1 and took refuge in ,egypt4  ,a  
short time afterward1 they returned to  
their native country4 ,the child had    
grown during those journeyings1 in which
 his life was more than once exposed to 
danger4 ,formerly1 as now1 the ,oriental

 ,israelites commenced the instruction  
of their children at the age of five or 
six years4 ,compelled to constantly hide
 him from the murderous ,king ,herod1   
the parents of ,jesus could not allow   
their son to go out1 and he1 no doubt1  
spent all his time in studying the      
sacred ,scriptures1 so that his         
knowledge was sufficiently beyond what  
would naturally have been expected of a 
boy of his age to greatly astonish the  
elders of ,israel4 ,he had in his       
thirteenth year attained an age when1   
according to ,jewish law1 the boy       
becomes an adult1 has the right to      
marry1 and incurs obligations for the   
discharge of the religious duties of a  
man4  ,there exists still1 in our times1
 among the ,israelites1 an ancient      
religious custom that fixes the majority
 of a youth at the accomplished         
thirteenth year4 ,from this epoch the   
youth becomes a member of the           
congregation and enjoys all the rights  
of an adult4 ,hence1 his marriage at    

this age is regarded as having legal    
force1 and is even required in the      
tropical countries4 ,in ,europe1        
however1 owing to the influence of local
 laws and to nature1 which does not     
contribute here so powerfully as in warm
 climates to the physical development1  
this custom is no more in force and has 
lost all its former importance4  ,the   
royal lineage of ,jesus1 his rare       
intelligence and his learning1 caused   
him to be looked upon as an excellent   
match1 and the wealthiest and most      
respected ,hebrews would fain have had  
him for a son-in-law1 just as even      
nowadays the ,israelites are very       
desirous of the honor of marrying their 
daughters to the sons of ,rabbis or     
scholars4 ,but the meditative youth1    
whose mind was far above anything       
corporeal1 and possessed by the thirst  
for knowledge1 stealthily left his home 
and joined the caravans going to ,india4
  ,it stands to reason that ,jesus      
,christ should have thought1 primarily1 

of going to ,india1 first1 because at   
that epoch ,egypt formed part of the    
,roman possessions2 secondly1 and       
principally1 because a very active      
commercial exchange with ,india had made
 common report in ,judea of the majestic
 character and unsurpassed richness of  
the arts and sciences in this marvellous
 country1 to which even now the         
aspirations of all civilized peoples are
 directed4  ,here the ,evangelists once 
more lose the thread of the terrestrial 
life of ,jesus4 ,luke says he was in the
 deserts till the day of his shewing    
unto ,israel 7,luke #a1 #hj71 which     
clearly demonstrates that nobody knew   
where the holy youth was until his      
sudden reappearance sixteen years later4
  ,arrived in ,india1 this land of      
marvels1 ,jesus began to frequent the   
temples of the ,djainites4  ,there      
exists until today1 on the peninsula of 
,hindustan1 a sectarian cult under the  
name of ,djainism4 ,it forms a kind of  
connecting link between ,buddhism and   

,brahminism1 and preaches the           
destruction of all other beliefs1 which1
 it declares1 are corroded by falsehood4
 ,it dates from the seventh century     
before ,jesus ,christ and its name is   
derived from the word djain 7conqueror71
 which was assumed by its founders as   
expressive of its destined triumph over 
its rivals4  ,in sympathetic admiration 
for the spirit of the young man1 the    
,djainites asked him to stay with them2 
but ,jesus left them to settle in       
,djagguernat1 where he devoted himself  
to the study of treatises on religion1  
philosophy1 etc4 ,djagguernat is one of 
the chief sacred cities of ,brahmins1   
and1 at the time of ,christ1 was of     
great religious importance4 ,according  
to tradition1 the ashes of the          
illustrious ,brahmin1 ,krishna1 who     
lived in #aehj ,b4,c41 are preserved    
there1 in the hollow of a tree1 near a  
magnificent temple1 to which thousands  
make pilgrimage every year4 ,krishna    
collected and put in order the ,vedas1  

which he divided into four              
books--,richt1 ,jagour1 ,saman and      
,artafan2--in commemoration of which    
great work he received the name of      
,vyasa 7he who collected and divided the
 ,vedas71 and he also compiled the      
,vedanta and eighteen ,puranas1 which   
contain #djj1jjj stanzas4  ,in          
,djagguernat is also found a very       
precious library of ,sanscrit books and 
religious manuscripts4  ,jesus spent    
there six years in studying the language
 of the country and the ,sanscrit1 which
 enabled him to absorb the religious    
doctrines1 philosophy1 medicine and     
mathematics4 ,he found much to blame in 
,brahminical laws and usages1 and       
publicly joined issue with the          
,brahmins1 who in vain endeavored to    
convince him of the sacred character of 
their established customs4 ,jesus1 among
 other things1 deemed it extremely      
unjust that the laborer should be       
oppressed and despised1 and that he     
should not only be robbed of hope of    

future happiness1 but also be denied the
 right to hear the religious services4  
,he1 therefore1 began preaching to the  
,sudras1 the lowest caste of slaves1    
telling them that1 according to their   
own laws1 ,god is the ,father of all    
men2 that all which exists1 exists only 
through ,him2 that1 before ,him1 all men
 are equal1 and that the ,brahmins had  
obscured the great principle of         
monotheism by misinterpreting ,brahma's 
own words1 and laying excessive stress  
upon observance of the exterior         
ceremonials of the cult4  ,here are the 
words in which1 according to the        
doctrine of the ,brahmins1 ,god ,himself
 speaks to the angels3 ,i have been from
 eternity1 and shall continue to be     
eternally4 ,i am the first cause of     
everything that exists in the ,east and 
in the ,west1 in the ,north and in the  
,south1 above and below1 in heaven and  
in hell4 ,i am older than all things4 ,i
 am the ,spirit and the ,creation of the
 universe and also its ,creator4 ,i am  

all-powerful2 ,i am the ,god of the     
,gods1 the ,king of the ,kings2 ,i am   
,para-,brahma1 the great soul of the    
universe4  ,after the world appeared by 
the will of ,para-,brahma1 ,god created 
human beings1 whom he divided into four 
classes1 according to their colors3     
white 7,brahmins71 red 7,kshatriyas71   
yellow 7,vaisyas71 and black 7,sudras74 
,brahma drew the first from his own     
mouth1 and gave them for their appanage 
the government of the world1 the care of
 teaching men the laws1 of curing and   
judging them4 ,therefore do the         
,brahmins occupy only the offices of    
priests and preachers1 are expounders of
 the ,vedas1 and must practice celibacy4
  ,the second caste of ,kshatriyas      
issued from the hand of ,brahma4 ,he    
made of them warriors1 entrusting them  
with the care of defending society4 ,all
 the kings1 princes1 captains1 governors
 and military men belong to this caste1 
which lives on the best terms with the  
,brahmins1 since they cannot subsist    

without each other1 and the peace of the
 country depends on the alliance of the 
lights and the sword1 of ,brahma's      
temple and the royal throne4  ,the      
,vaisyas1 who constitute the third      
caste1 issued from ,brahma's belly4     
,they are destined to cultivate the     
ground1 raise cattle1 carry on commerce 
and practice all kinds of trades in     
order to feed the ,brahmins and the     
,kshatriyas4 ,only on holidays are they 
authorized to enter the temple and      
listen to the recital of the ,vedas2 at 
all other times they must attend to     
their business4  ,the lowest caste1 that
 of the black ones1 or ,sudras1 issued  
from the feet of ,brahma to be the      
humble servants and slaves of the three 
preceding castes4 ,they are interdicted 
from attending the reading of the ,vedas
 at any time2 their touch contaminates a
 ,brahmin1 ,kshatriya1 or even a ,vaisya
 who comes in contact with them4 ,they  
are wretched creatures1 deprived of all 
human rights2 they cannot even look at  

the members of the other castes1 nor    
defend themselves1 nor1 when sick1      
receive the attendance of a physician4  
,death alone can deliver the ,sudra from
 a life of servitude2 and even then1    
freedom can only be attained under the  
condition that1 during his whole life1  
he shall have served diligently and     
without complaint some member of the    
privileged classes4 ,then only it is    
promised that the soul of the ,sudra    
shall1 after death1 be raised to a      
superior caste4  ,if a ,sudra has been  
lacking in obedience to a member of the 
privileged classes1 or has in any way   
brought their disfavor upon himself1 he 
sinks to the rank of a pariah1 who is   
banished from all cities and villages   
and is the object of general contempt1  
as an abject being who can only perform 
the lowest kind of work4  ,the same     
punishment may also fall upon members of
 another caste2 these1 however1 may1    
through repentance1 fasting and other   
trials1 rehabilitate themselves in their

 former caste2 while the unfortunate    
,sudra1 once expelled from his1 has lost
 it forever4  ,from what has been said  
above1 it is easy to explain why the    
,vaisyas and ,sudras were animated with 
adoration for ,jesus1 who1 in spite of  
the threats of the ,brahmins and        
,kshatriyas1 never forsook those poor   
people4  ,in his sermons ,jesus not only
 censured the system by which man was   
robbed of his right to be considered as 
a human being1 while an ape or a piece  
of marble or metal was paid divine      
worship1 but he attacked the very life  
of ,brahminism1 its system of gods1 its 
doctrine and its trimurti 7trinity71 the
 angular stone of this religion4        
,para-,brahma is represented with three 
faces on a single head4 ,this is the    
trimurti 7trinity71 composed of ,brahma 
7creator71 ,vishnu 7conservator71 and   
,siva 7destroyer74  ,here is the origin 
of the trimurti3--  ,in the beginning1  
,para-,brahma created the waters and    
threw into them the seed of procreation1

 which transformed itself into a        
brilliant egg1 wherein ,brahma's image  
was reflected4 ,millions of years had   
passed when ,brahma split the egg in two
 halves1 of which the upper one became  
the heaven1 the lower one1 the earth4   
,then ,brahma descended to the earth    
under the shape of a child1 established 
himself upon a lotus flower1 absorbed   
himself in his own contemplation and put
 to himself the question3 ,who will     
attend to the conservation of what ,i   
have created8 ,i1 came the answer from  
his mouth under the appearance of a     
flame4 ,and ,brahma gave to this word   
the name1 ,vishnu1 that is to say1 he   
who preserves4 ,then ,brahma divided his
 being into two halves1 the one male1   
the other female1 the active and the    
passive principles1 the union of which  
produced ,siva1 the destroyer4  ,these  
are the attributes of the trimurti2     
,brahma1 creative principle2 ,vishnu1   
preservative wisdom2 ,siva1 destructive 
wrath of justice4 ,brahma is the        

substance from which everything was     
made2 ,vishnu1 space wherein everything 
lives2 and ,siva1 time that annihilates 
all things4  ,brahma is the face which  
vivifies all2 ,vishnu1 the water which  
sustains the forces of the creatures2   
,siva1 the fire which breaks the bond   
that unites all objects4 ,brahma is the 
past2 ,vishnu1 the present2 ,siva1 the  
future4 ,each part of the trimurti      
possesses1 moreover1 a wife4 ,the wife  
of ,brahma is ,sarasvati1 goddess of    
wisdom2 that of ,vishnu1 ,lakshmi1      
goddess of virtue1 and ,siva's spouse is
 ,kali1 goddess of death1 the universal 
destroyer4  ,of this last union were    
born1 ,ganesa1 the elephant-headed god  
of wisdom1 and ,indra1 the god of the   
firmament1 both chiefs of inferior      
divinities1 the number of which1 if all 
the objects of adoration of the ,hindus 
be included1 amounts to three hundred   
millions4  ,vishnu has descended eight  
times upon the earth1 incarnating in a  
fish in order to save the ,vedas from   

the deluge1 in a tortoise1 a dwarf1 a   
wild boar1 a lion1 in ,rama1 a king's   
son1 in ,krishna and in ,buddha4 ,he    
will come a ninth time under the form of
 a rider mounted on a white horse in    
order to destroy death and sin4  ,jesus 
denied the existence of all these       
hierarchic absurdities of gods1 which   
darken the great principle of           
monotheism4  ,when the ,brahmins saw    
that ,jesus1 who1 instead of becoming   
one of their party1 as they had hoped1  
turned out to be their adversary1 and   
that the people began to embrace his    
doctrine1 they resolved to kill him2 but
 his servants1 who were greatly attached
 to him1 forewarned him of the          
threatening danger1 and he took refuge  
in the mountains of ,nepaul4 ,at this   
epoch1 ,buddhism had taken deep root in 
this country4 ,it was a kind of schism1 
remarkable by its moral principles and  
ideas on the nature of the              
divinity--ideas which brought men closer
 to nature and to one another4          

,sakya-,muni1 the founder of this sect1 
was born fifteen hundred years before   
,jesus ,christ1 at ,kapila1 the capital 
of his father's kingdom1 near ,nepaul1  
in the ,himalayas4 ,he belonged to the  
race of the ,gotamides1 and to the      
ancient family of the ,sakyas4 ,from his
 infancy he evinced a lively interest in
 religion1 and1 contrary to his father's
 wishes1 leaving his palace with all its
 luxury1 began at once to preach against
 the ,brahmins1 for the purification of 
their doctrines4 ,he died at            
,kouinagara1 surrounded by many faithful
 disciples4 ,his body was burned1 and   
his ashes1 divided into several parts1  
were distributed between the cities1    
which1 on account of his new doctrine1  
had renounced ,brahminism4  ,according  
to the ,buddhistic doctrine1 the        
,creator reposes normally in a state of 
perfect inaction1 which is disturbed by 
nothing and which he only leaves at     
certain destiny-determined epochs1 in   
order to create terrestrial buddhas4 ,to

 this end the ,spirit disengages itself 
from the sovereign ,creator1 incarnates 
in a buddha and stays for some time on  
the earth1 where he creates             
,bodhisattvas 7masters71#c whose mission
 it is to preach the divine word and to 
found new churches of believers to whom 
they will give laws1 and for whom they  
will institute a new religious order    
according to the traditions of          
,buddhism4  ,a terrestrial buddha is1 in
 a certain way1 a reflection of the     
sovereign creative ,buddha1 with whom he
 unites after the termination of his    
terrestrial existence4 ,in like manner  
do the ,bodhisattvas1 as a reward for   
their labors and the privations they    
undergo1 receive eternal bliss and enjoy
 a rest which nothing can disturb4      
,jesus sojourned six years among the    
,buddhists1 where he found the principle
 of monotheism still pure4 ,arrived at  
the age of twenty-six years1 he         
remembered his fatherland1 which was    
then oppressed by a foreign yoke4 ,on   

his way homeward1 he preached against   
idol worship1 human sacrifice1 and other
 errors of faith1 admonishing the people
 to recognize and adore ,god1 the       
,father of all beings1 to whom all are  
alike dear1 the master as well as the   
slave2 for they all are his children1 to
 whom he has given this beautiful       
universe for a common heritage4 ,the    
sermons of ,jesus often made a profound 
impression upon the peoples among whom  
he came1 and he was exposed to all sorts
 of dangers provoked by the clergy1 but 
was saved by the very idolators who1    
only the preceding day1 had offered     
their children as sacrifices to their   
idols4  ,while passing through ,persia1 
,jesus almost caused a revolution among 
the adorers of ,zoroaster's doctrine4   
,nevertheless1 the priests refrained    
from killing him1 out of fear of the    
people's vengeance4 ,they resorted to   
artifice1 and led him out of town at    
night1 with the hope that he might be   
devoured by wild beasts4 ,jesus escaped 

this peril and arrived safe and sound in
 the country of ,israel4  ,it must be   
remarked here that the ,orientals1      
amidst their sometimes so picturesque   
misery1 and in the ocean of depravation 
in which they slumber1 always have1     
under the influence of their priests and
 teachers1 a pronounced inclination for 
learning and understand easily good     
common sense explications4 ,it happened 
to me more than once that1 by using     
simple words of truth1 ,i appealed to   
the conscience of a thief or some       
otherwise intractable person4 ,these    
people1 moved by a sentiment of innate  
honesty1--which the clergy for personal 
reasons of their own1 tried by all means
 to stifle--soon became again very      
honest and had only contempt for those  
who had abused their confidence4  ,by   
the virtue of a mere word of truth1 the 
whole of ,india1 with its #cjj1jjj1jjj  
of idols1 could be made a vast          
,christian country2 but 444 this        
beautiful project would1 no doubt1 be   

antagonized by certain ,christians who1 
similar to those priests of whom ,i have
 spoken before1 speculate upon the      
ignorance of the people to make         
themselves rich4  ,according to ,st4    
,luke1 ,jesus was about thirty years of 
age when he began preaching to the      
,israelites4 ,according to the          
,buddhistic chroniclers1 ,jesus's       
teachings in ,judea began in his        
twenty-ninth year4 ,all his sermons     
which are not mentioned by the          
,evangelists1 but have been preserved by
 the ,buddhists1 are remarkable for     
their character of divine grandeur4 ,the
 fame of the new prophet spread rapidly 
in the country1 and ,jerusalem awaited  
with impatience his arrival4 ,when he   
came near the holy city1 its inhabitants
 went out to meet him1 and led him in   
triumph to the temple2 all of which is  
in agreement with ,christian tradition4 
,the chiefs and elders who heard him    
were filled with admiration for his     
sermons1 and were happy to see the      

beneficent impression which his words   
exercised upon the populace4 ,all these 
remarkable sermons of ,jesus are full of
 sublime sentiments4  ,pilate1 the      
governor of the country1 however1 did   
not look upon the matter in the same    
light4 ,eager agents notified him that  
,jesus announced the near coming of a   
new kingdom1 the reestablishment of the 
throne of ,israel1 and that he suffered 
himself to be called the ,son of ,god1  
sent to bring back courage in ,israel1  
for he1 the ,king of ,judea1 would soon 
ascend the throne of his ancestors4  ,i 
do not purpose attributing to ,jesus the
 rle of a revolutionary1 but it seems to
 me very probable that ,jesus wrought up
 the people with a view to reestablish  
the throne to which he had a just claim4
 ,divinely inspired1 and1 at the same   
time1 convinced of the legitimacy of his
 pretentions1 ,jesus preached the       
spiritual union of the people in order  
that a political union might result4    
,pilate1 who felt alarmed over these    

rumors1 called together the priests and 
the elders of the people and ordered    
them to interdict ,jesus from preaching 
in public1 and even to condemn him in   
the temple under the charge of apostasy4
 ,this was the best means for ,pilate to
 rid himself of a dangerous man1 whose  
royal origin he knew and whose          
popularity was constantly increasing4   
,it must be said in this connection that
 the ,israelites1 far from persecuting  
,jesus1 recognized in him the descendant
 of the illustrious dynasty of ,david1  
and made him the object of their secret 
hopes1 a fact which is evident from the 
very ,gospels which tell that ,jesus    
preached freely in the temple1 in the   
presence of the elders1 who could have  
interdicted him not only the entrance to
 the temple1 but also his preachings4   
,upon the order of ,pilate the          
,sanhedrim met and cited ,jesus to      
appear before its tribunal4 ,as the     
result of the inquiry1 the members of   
the ,sanhedrim informed ,pilate that his

 suspicions were without any foundation 
whatever2 that ,jesus preached a        
religious1 and not a political1         
propaganda2 that he was expounding the  
,divine word1 and that he claimed to    
have come not to overthrow1 but to      
reestablish the laws of ,moses4 ,the    
,buddhistic record does but confirm this
 sympathy1 which unquestionably existed 
between the young preacher1 ,jesus1 and 
the elders of the people of ,israel2    
hence their answer3 ,we do not judge a  
just one4  ,pilate felt not at all      
assured1 and continued seeking an       
occasion to hale ,jesus before a new    
tribunal1 as regular as the former4 ,to 
this end he caused him to be followed by
 spies1 and finally ordered his arrest4 
,if we may believe the ,evangelists1 it 
was the ,pharisees who sought the life  
of ,jesus1 while the ,buddhistic record 
most positively declares that ,pilate   
alone can be held responsible for his   
execution4 ,this version is evidently   
much more probable than the account of  

the ,evangelists4 ,the conquerors of    
,judea could not long tolerate the      
presence of a man who announced to the  
people a speedy deliverance from their  
yoke4 ,the popularity of ,jesus having  
commenced to disturb ,pilate's mind1 it 
is to be supposed that he sent after the
 young preacher spies1 with the order to
 take note of all his words and acts4   
,moreover1 the servants of the ,roman   
governor1 as true agents provocateurs1  
endeavored by means of artful questions 
put to ,jesus1 to draw from him some    
imprudent words under color of which    
,pilate might proceed against him4 ,if  
the preachings of ,jesus had been       
offensive to the ,hebrew priests and    
scribes1 all they needed to do was      
simply to command the people not to hear
 and follow him1 and to forbid him      
entrance into the temple4 ,but the      
,evangelists tell us that ,jesus enjoyed
 great popularity among the ,israelites 
and full liberty in the temples1 where  
,pharisees and scribes discussed with   

him4  ,in order to find a valid excuse  
for condemning him1 ,pilate had him     
tortured so as to extort from him a     
confession of high treason4  ,but1      
contrary to the rule that the innocent1 
overcome by their pain1 will confess    
anything to escape the unendurable      
agonies inflicted upon them1 ,jesus made
 no admission of guilt4 ,pilate1 seeing 
that the usual tortures were powerless  
to accomplish the desired result1       
commanded the executioners to proceed to
 the last extreme of their diabolic     
cruelties1 meaning to compass the death 
of ,jesus by the complete exhaustion of 
his forces4 ,jesus1 however1 fortifying 
his endurance by the power of his will  
and zeal for his righteous cause--which 
was also that of his people and of      
,god--was unconquerable by all the      
refinements of cruelty inflicted upon   
him by his executioners4  ,the          
infliction of the question upon ,jesus  
evoked much feeling among the elders1   
and they resolved to interfere in his   

behalf2 formally demanding of ,pilate   
that he should be liberated before the  
,passover4  ,when their request was     
denied by ,pilate they resolved to      
petition that ,jesus should be brought  
to trial before the ,sanhedrim1 by whom 
they did not doubt his acquittal--which 
was ardently desired by the             
people--would be ordained4  ,in the eyes
 of the priests1 ,jesus was a saint1    
belonging to the family of ,david2 and  
his unjust detention1 or--what was still
 more to be dreaded--his condemnation1  
would have saddened the celebration of  
the great national festival of the      
,israelites4  ,they therefore prayed    
,pilate that the trial of ,jesus should 
take place before the ,passover1 and to 
this he acceded4 ,but he ordered that   
two thieves should be tried at the same 
time with ,jesus1 thinking to1 in this  
way1 minimize in the eyes of the people1
 the importance of the fact that the    
life of an innocent man was being put in
 jeopardy before the tribunal2 and1 by  

not allowing ,jesus to be condemned     
alone1 blind the populace to the unjust 
prearrangement of his condemnation4     
,the accusation against ,jesus was      
founded upon the depositions of the     
bribed witnesses4  ,during the trial1   
,pilate availed himself of perversions  
of ,jesus' words concerning the heavenly
 kingdom1 to sustain the charges made   
against him4 ,he counted1 it seems1 upon
 the effect produced by the answers of  
,jesus1 as well as upon his own         
authority1 to influence the members of  
the tribunal against examining too      
minutely the details of the case1 and to
 procure from them the sentence of death
 for which he intimated his desire4     
,upon hearing the perfectly natural     
answer of the judges1 that the meaning  
of the words of ,jesus was diametrically
 opposed to the accusation1 and that    
there was nothing in them to warrant his
 condemnation1 ,pilate employed his     
final resource for prejudicing the      
trial1 viz41 the deposition of a        

purchased traitorous informer4 ,this    
miserable wretch--who was1 no doubt1    
,judas--accused ,jesus formally1 of     
having incited the people to rebellion4 
,then followed a scene of unsurpassed   
sublimity4 ,when ,judas gave his        
testimony1 ,jesus1 turning toward him1  
and giving him his blessing1 says3 ,thou
 wilt find mercy1 for what thou has said
 did not come out from thine own heart6 
,then1 addressing himself to the        
governor3 ,why dost thou lower thy      
dignity1 and teach thy inferiors to tell
 falsehood1 when without doing so it is 
in thy power to condemn an innocent man8
  ,words touching as sublime6 ,jesus    
,christ here manifests all the grandeur 
of his soul by pardoning his betrayer1  
and he reproaches ,pilate with having   
resorted to such means1 unworthy of his 
dignity1 to attain his end4  ,this keen 
reproach enraged the governor1 and      
caused him to completely forget his     
position1 and the prudent policy with   
which he had meant to evade personal    

responsibility for the crime he         
contemplated4 ,he now imperiously       
demanded the conviction of ,jesus1 and1 
as though he intended to make a display 
of his power1 to overawe the judges1    
ordered the acquittal of the two        
thieves4  ,the judges1 seeing the       
injustice of ,pilate's demand1 that they
 should acquit the malefactors and      
condemn the innocent ,jesus1 refused to 
commit this double crime against their  
consciences and their laws4 ,but as they
 could not cope with one who possessed  
the authority of final judgment1 and saw
 that he was firmly decided to rid      
himself1 by whatever means1 of a man who
 had fallen under the suspicions of the 
,roman authorities1 they left him to    
himself pronounce the verdict for which 
he was so anxious4 ,in order1 however1  
that the people might not suspect them  
of sharing the responsibility for such  
unjust judgment1 which would not readily
 have been forgiven1 they1 in leaving   
the court1 performed the ceremony of    

washing their hands1 symbolizing the    
affirmation that they were clean of the 
blood of the innocent ,jesus1 the       
beloved of the people4  ,about ten years
 ago1 ,i read in a ,german journal1 the 
,fremdenblatt1 an article on ,judas1    
wherein the author endeavored to        
demonstrate that the informer had been  
the best friend of ,jesus4 ,according to
 him1 it was out of love for his master 
that ,judas betrayed him1 for he put    
blind faith in the words of the         
,saviour1 who said that his kingdom     
would arrive after his execution4 ,but  
after seeing him on the cross1 and      
having waited in vain for the           
resurrection of ,jesus1 which he        
expected to immediately take place1     
,judas1 not able to bear the pain by    
which his heart was torn1 committed     
suicide by hanging himself4 ,it would be
 profitless to dwell upon this ingenious
 product of a fertile imagination4  ,to 
take up again the accounts of the       
,gospels and the ,buddhistic chronicle1 

it is very possible that the bribed     
informer was really ,judas1 although the
 ,buddhistic version is silent on this  
point4 ,as to the pangs of conscience   
which are said to have impelled the     
informer to suicide1 ,i must say that ,i
 give no credence to them4 ,a man       
capable of committing so vile and       
cowardly an action as that of making an 
infamously false accusation against his 
friend1 and this1 not out of a spirit of
 jealousy1 or for revenge1 but to gain a
 handful of shekels6 such a man is1 from
 the psychic point of view1 of very     
little worth4 ,he ignores honesty and   
conscience1 and pangs of remorse are    
unknown to him4  ,it is presumable that 
the governor treated him as is sometimes
 done in our days1 when it is deemed    
desirable to effectually conceal state  
secrets known to men of his kind and    
presumably unsafe in their keeping4     
,judas probably was simply hanged1 by   
,pilate's order1 to prevent the         
possibility of his some day revealing   

that the plot of which ,jesus was a     
victim had been inspired by the         
authorities4  ,on the day of the        
execution1 a numerous detachment of     
,roman soldiers was placed around the   
cross to guard against any attempt by   
the populace for the delivery of him who
 was the object of their veneration4 ,in
 this occurrence ,pilate gave proof of  
his extraordinary firmness and          
resolution4  ,but though1 owing to the  
precautions taken by the governor1 the  
anticipated revolt did not occur1 he    
could not prevent the people1 after the 
execution1 mourning the ruin of their   
hopes1 which were destroyed1 together   
with the last scion of the race of      
,david4 ,all the people went to worship 
at ,jesus' grave4 ,although we have no  
precise information concerning the      
occurrences of the first few days       
following the ,passion1 we could1 by    
some probable conjectures1 reconstruct  
the scenes which must have taken place4 
,it stands to reason that the ,roman    

,csar's clever lieutenant1 when he saw  
that ,christ's grave became the centre  
of universal lamentations and the       
subject of national grief1 and feared   
that the memory of the righteous victim 
might excite the discontent of the      
people and raise the whole country      
against the foreigners' rule1 should    
have employed any effective means for   
the removal of this rallying-point1 the 
mortal remains of ,jesus4 ,pilate began 
by having the body buried4 ,for three   
days the soldiers who were stationed on 
guard at the grave1 were exposed to all 
kinds of insults and injuries on the    
part of the people who1 defying the     
danger1 came in multitudes to mourn the 
great martyr4 ,then ,pilate ordered his 
soldiers to remove the body at night1   
and to bury it clandestinely in some    
other place1 leaving the first grave    
open and the guard withdrawn from it1 so
 that the people could see that ,jesus  
had disappeared4 ,but ,pilate missed his
 end2 for when1 on the following        

morning1 the ,hebrews did not find the  
corpse of their master in the sepulchre1
 the superstitious and miracle-accepting
 among them thought that he had been    
resurrected4  ,how did this legend take 
root8 ,we cannot say4 ,possibly it      
existed for a long time in a latent     
state and1 at the beginning1 spread only
 among the common people2 perhaps the   
ecclesiastic authorities of the ,hebrews
 looked with indulgence upon this       
innocent belief1 which gave to the      
oppressed a shadow of revenge on their  
oppressors4 ,however it be1 the day when
 the legend of the resurrection finally 
became known to all1 there was no one to
 be found strong enough to demonstrate  
the impossibility of such an occurrence4
  ,concerning this resurrection1 it must
 be remarked that1 according to the     
,buddhists1 the soul of the just ,issa  
was united with the eternal ,being1     
while the ,evangelists insist upon the  
ascension of the body4 ,it seems to me1 
however1 that the ,evangelists and the  

,apostles have done very well to give   
the description of the resurrection     
which they have agreed upon1 for if they
 had not done so1 i4e41 if the miracle  
had been given a less material          
character1 their preaching would not    
have had1 in the eyes of the nations to 
whom it was presented1 that divine      
authority1 that avowedly supernatural   
character1 which has clothed            
,christianity1 until our time1 as the   
only religion capable of elevating the  
human race to a state of sublime        
enthusiasm1 suppressing its savage      
instincts1 and bringing it nearer to the
 grand and simple nature which ,god has 
bestowed1 they say1 upon that feeble    
dwarf called man4     ,explanatory      
,notes   ,chapter ,,iii4   #c1 #d1 #e1  
#g  ,the histories of all peoples show  
that when a nation has reached the      
apogee of its military glory and its    
wealth1 it begins at once to sink more  
or less rapidly on the declivity of     
moral degeneration and decay4 ,the      

,israelites having1 among the first1    
experienced this law of the evolution of
 nations1 the neighboring peoples       
profited by the decadence of the then   
effeminate and debauched descendants of 
,jacob1 to despoil them4   #h  ,the     
country of ,romeles1 i4e41 the          
fatherland of ,romulus2 in our days1    
,rome4   #aa1 #ab  ,it must be admitted 
that the ,israelites1 in spite of their 
incontestable wit and intelligence1 seem
 to have only had regard for the        
present4 ,like all other ,oriental      
peoples1 they only in their misfortunes 
remembered the faults of their past1    
which they each time had to expiate by  
centuries of slavery4   ,chapter ,,iv   
#f  ,as it is easy to divine1 this verse
 refers to ,joseph1 who was a lineal    
descendant from ,king ,david4 ,side by  
side with this somewhat vague indication
 may be placed the following passages   
from the ,gospels3  --,the angel of the 
,lord appeared unto him in a dream1     
saying1 ,joseph1 thou son of ,david1    

fear not to take unto thee ,mary thy    
wife 444 7,matt4 i1 #bj47  --,and the   
multitudes that went before1 and that   
followed1 cried1 saying1 ,hosanna to the
 son of ,david 7,matt4 xxi1 #i47  --,to 
a virgin espoused to a man whose name   
was ,joseph1 of the house of ,david2 444
 7,luke i1 #bg47  --,and the ,lord ,god 
shall give unto him the throne of his   
father ,david2 444 7,luke i1 #cb47      
--,and ,jesus himself began to be about 
thirty years of age1 being 7as was      
supposed7 the son of ,joseph1 which was 
the son of ,heli 444 which was the son  
of ,nathan1 which was the son of ,david 
7,luke iii1 #bc-ca47   #g  ,both the    
,old and the ,new ,testaments teach that
 ,god promised ,david the rehabilitation
 of his throne and the elevation to it  
of one of his descendants4   #h1 #i     
--,and the child grew1 and waxed strong 
in spirit1 filled with wisdom1 and the  
grace of ,god was upon him4  --,and it  
came to pass1 that after three days they
 found him in the temple1 sitting in the

 midst of the doctors1 both hearing     
them1 and asking them questions4  --,and
 all that heard him were astonished at  
his understanding and answers4  --,and  
he said unto them1 ,how is it that ye   
sought me8 wist ye not that ,i must be  
about my ,father's business8  --,and    
,jesus increased in wisdom and stature1 
and in favor with ,god and man 7,luke   
ii1 #dj1 #df1 #dg1 #di1 #eb47   ,chapter
 ,v   #a  ,sind1 a ,sanscrit word1 which
 has been modified by the ,persians into
 ,ind4 ,arya1 the name given in         
antiquity to the inhabitants of ,india2 
signified first man who cultivates the  
ground or cultivator4 ,anciently it had 
a purely ethnographical signification2  
this appellation assumed later on a     
religious sense1 notably that of man who
 believes4   #b  ,luke says 7i1 #hj73   
,and the child grew1 and waxed strong in
 spirit1 and was in the deserts till the
 day of his shewing unto ,israel4 ,the  
,evangelists say that ,jesus was in the 
desert1 the ,buddhists explain this     

version of the ,gospels by indicating   
where ,jesus was during his absence from
 ,judea4 ,according to them he crossed  
the ,sind1 a name which1 properly       
spoken1 signifies the river 7,indus74   
,in connection with this word it is not 
amiss to note that many ,sanscrit words 
in passing into the ,persian language   
underwent the same transformation by    
changing the s into h2 per example3     
,sapta 7in ,sanscrit71 signifying       
seven--hafta 7in ,persian72  ,sam       
7,sanscrit71 signifying equal--ham      
7,persian72  ,mas 7,sanscrit71 meaning  
mouth--mah 7,persian72 ,sur 7,sanscrit71
 meaning sun--hur 7,persian72 ,das      
7,sanscrit71 meaning ten--,dah          
7,persian72 ,loco citato--and those who 
believed in the god ,djain4  ,there     
exists1 even yet1 on the peninsula of   
,hindustan1 a cult under the name of    
,djainism1 which forms1 as it were1 a   
link of union between ,buddhism and     
,brahminism1 and its devotees teach the 
destruction of all other beliefs1 which 

they declare contaminated with          
falsehood4 ,it dates as far back as the 
seventh century1 ,b4,c4 ,its name is    
derived from ,djain 7conqueror71 which  
it assumed as the symbol of its triumph 
over its rivals4   #d  ,each of the     
eighteen ,puranas is divided into five  
parts1 which1 besides the canonical     
laws1 the rites and the commentaries    
upon the creation1 destruction and      
resurrection of the universe1 deal with 
theogony1 medicine1 and even the trades 
and professions4   ,chapter ,,vi   #ab  
,owing to the intervention of the       
,british1 the human sacrifices1 which   
were principally offered to ,kali1 the  
goddess of death1 have now entirely     
ceased4 ,the goddess ,kali is           
represented erect1 with one foot upon   
the dead body of a man1 whose head she  
holds in one of her innumerable hands1  
while with the other hand she brandishes
 a bloody dagger4 ,her eyes and mouth1  
which are wide open1 express passion and
 cruelty4   ,chapter ,,viii   #c1 #d    

,zoroaster lived #eej years before      
,jesus4 ,he founded the doctrine of the 
struggle between light and darkness1 a  
doctrine which is fully expounded in the
 ,zend-,avesta 7,word of ,god71 which is
 written in the ,zend language1 and1    
according to tradition1 was given to him
 by an angel from ,paradise4  ,according
 to ,zoroaster we must worship ,mithra  
7the sun71 from whom descend ,ormuzd1   
the god of good1 and ,ahriman1 the god  
of evil4 ,the world will end when       
,ormuzd has triumphed over his rival1   
,ahriman1 who will then return to his   
original source1 ,mithra4   ,chapter ,x 
#af  ,according to the ,evangelists1    
,jesus was born in ,bethlehem1 which the
 ,buddhistic version confirms1 for only 
from ,bethlehem1 situated at a distance 
of about seven kilometres from          
,jerusalem1 could the walls of this     
latter city be seen4   ,chapter ,,xi    
#ae  ,the doctrine of the ,redemptor is1
 almost in its entirety1 contained in   
the ,gospels4 ,as to the transformation 

of men into children1 it is especially  
known from the conversation that took   
place between ,jesus and ,nicodemus4    
,chapter ,,xii   #a  --,tell us         
therefore1 ,what thinkest thou8 ,is it  
lawful to give tribute unto ,csar1 or   
not8 7,matt4 xxii1 #ag47   #c  --,then  
saith he unto them1 ,render therefore   
unto ,csar the things which are ,csar's2
 and unto ,god the things that are      
,god's4 7,matt4 xxii1 #ba2 et al47      
,chapter ,,xiv   #c  ,according to the  
,buddhistic belief1 the terrestrial     
buddhas after death1 lose consciousness 
of their independent existence and unite
 with the eternal ,spirit4   #aj1 #aa   
,here1 no doubt1 reference is made to   
the activity of the ,apostles among the 
neighboring peoples2 an activity which  
could not have passed unnoticed at that 
epoch1 because of the great results     
which followed the preaching of the new 
religious doctrine of love among nations
 whose religions were based upon the    
cruelty of their gods4         99       

99       99       99       99  ,without 
permitting myself indulgence in great   
dissertations1 or too minute analysis   
upon each verse1 ,i have thought it     
useful to accompany my work with these  
few little explanatory notes1 leaving it
 to the reader to take like trouble with
 the rest4   --,finis   #a ,the ,vaisyas
 and ,sudras castes4  #b ,brahmins and  
,kshatriyas4  #c ,sanscrit3--,he whose  
essence 7sattva7 has become intelligence
 7bhodi71 those who need but one more   
incarnation to become perfect buddhas1  
i4e41 to be entitled to ,nirvna4