EXPLANATORY NOTES.
Chapter III.
§3, 4, 5, 7.
The histories of all peoples show that when a nation has
reached the apogee of its military glory and its wealth, it
begins at once to sink more or less rapidly on the declivity of
moral degeneration and decay. The Israelites having, among the
first, experienced this law of the evolution of nations, the
neighboring peoples profited by the decadence of the then
effeminate and debauched descendants of Jacob, to despoil them.
§ 8.
The country of Romeles, i.e., the fatherland of
Romulus; in our days, Rome.
§§ 11, 12.
It must be admitted that the Israelites, in spite of their
incontestable wit and intelligence, seem to have only had regard
for the present. Like all other Oriental peoples, they only in
their misfortunes remembered the faults of their past, which they
each time had to expiate by centuries of slavery.
Chapter IV.
§ 6.
As it is easy to divine, this verse refers to Joseph, who was
a lineal descendant from King David. Side by side with this
somewhat vague indication may be placed the following passages
from the Gospels:
--"The angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream,
saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
Mary thy wife " . . . (Matt. i, 20.)
--"And the multitudes that went before, and that
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David"
(Matt. xxi, 9).
--"To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David;" . . (Luke i, 27.)
--"And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of
his father David;" . . . (Luke i, 32.)
--"And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of
age, being (as was supposed) the
son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, . . . which was the
son of Nathan, which was the son of David " (Luke iii,
23-3i).
§ 7.
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 descendants.
§ 8, 9.
--"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him,"
--"And it came to pass, that after three days they found
him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both
hearing them, and asking them questions."
--"And all that heard him were astonished at his
understanding and answers."
--"And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?
wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"
--"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in
favor with God and man" (Luke ii, 40, 46, 47, 49, 52).
Chapter V.
§ 1.
"Sind," a Sanscrit word, which has been modified by
the Persians into Ind. "Arya," the name given in
antiquity to the inhabitants of India; signified first "man
who cultivates the ground" or "cultivator."
Anciently it had a purely ethnographical signification; this
appellation assumed later on a religious sense, notably that of
"man who believes."
§ 2.
Luke says (i, 80): "And the child grew, and waxed strong
in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his sheaving
unto Israel." The Evangelists say that Jesus was in the
desert, the Buddhists explain this version of the Gospels by
indicating where Jesus was during his absence from Judea.
According to them he crossed the Sind, a name which, properly
spoken, signifies "the river" (Indus). 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 "h;"
per example:
p. 285
Sapta (in Sanscrit), signifying seven--hafta
(in Persian);
Sam (Sanscrit), signifying equal--ham
(Persian);
Mas (Sanscrit), meaning mouth--mah (Persian); Sur
(Sanscrit), meaning sun--hur (Persian); Das (Sanscrit),
meaning ten--Dah (Persian); Loco citato--and those
who believed in the god Djain.
There exists, even yet, on the peninsula of Hindustan, a cult
under the name of Djainism, which forms, as it were, a link of
union between Buddhism and Brahminism, and its devotees teach
the destruction of all other beliefs, which they declare
contaminated with falsehood. It dates as far back as the seventh
century, B. c. Its name is derived from Djain (conqueror), which
it assumed as the symbol of its triumph over its rivals.
§ 4.
Each of the eighteen Puranas is divided into five parts,
which, besides the canonical laws, the rites and the
commentaries upon the creation, destruction and resurrection of
the universe. deal with theogony, medicine, and even the trades
and professions.
Chapter VI.
§ 12.
Owing to the intervention of the British, the human
sacrifices, which were principally offered to Kali, the goddess
of death, have now entirely ceased. The goddess Kali is
represented erect, with one foot upon the dead body of a man,
whose head she holds in one of her innumerable hands, while with
the other hand she brandishes a bloody dagger. Her eyes and
mouth, which are wide open, express passion and cruelty.
Chapter VIII.
§ 3, 4.
Zoroaster lived 550 years before Jesus. He founded the
doctrine of the struggle between light and darkness, a doctrine
which is fully expounded in the Zend-Avesta (Word of God), which
is written in the Zend language, and, according to tradition,
was given to him by an angel from Paradise.
According to Zoroaster we must worship Mithra (the sun), from
whom descend Ormuzd, the god of good, and Ahriman, the god of
evil. The world will end when Ormuzd has triumphed over his rival, Ahriman, who will then return to his original
source, Mithra.
Chapter X.
§ 16.
According to the Evangelists, Jesus was born in Bethlehem,
which the Buddhistic version confirms, for only from Bethlehem,
situated at a distance of about seven kilometres from Jerusalem,
could the walls of this latter city be seen.
Chapter XI.
§ 15.
The doctrine the Redemptor is, almost in its entirety,
contained in the Gospels. As to the transformation of men into
children, it is especially known from the conversation that took
place between Jesus and Nicodemus.
Chapter XII.
§ 1.
--"Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful
to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?" (Matt. xxii, 17.)
§ 3.
--"Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar
the things which are Cæsar's; and unto God the things that are God's. (Matt. xxii, 21; et. al.)
Chapter XIV
§ 3.
According to the Buddhistic belief, the terrestrial buddhas
after death, lose consciousness of their independent existence
and unite with the eternal Spirit.
§§ 10, 11.
Here, no doubt, reference is made to the activity of the
Apostles among the neighboring peoples; an activity which could
not have passed unnoticed at that epoch, 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 gods.
Without permitting myself indulgence in great dissertations,
or too minute analysis upon each verse, I have thought it useful
to accompany my work with these few little explanatory notes,
leaving it to the reader to take like trouble with the rest.
FINIS.
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