Buddha  wisely  put  aside  the  worship  and  fear  of  genii,
ghosts,  demons  and  deities  which  Zoroaster  weakly  clung  to,
and  though  he  thus  probably  gained  adherents  in  his  day,  his
faith  has  receded  as  culture  advanced,  whilst  that  of  Buddha  is
more  than  ever  acceptable  to  civilized  communities.  Both
equally  and  strongly  inculcated  "good  thoughts,  good  words
and  good  deeds,"  which  was  a  startling  advance  in  those  days,
and  gave  life  and  endurance  to  the  two  faiths ;  though  ethikal
beliefs  do  not  show  that  rapid  growth  which  clear-cut  dogmatical
assertions  exhibit.  "Be  good  and  do  good,"  cannot  compete
with  "  There  is  one  God  and  one  Prophet ;  believe  or  die."

It  is  very  probable  that  "the  preachers  of  abstinence,"  who
are  in  Vindiddd  IV.  denounced  as  heretiks,  were,  as  Prof,  de
Harlez  suggests,  Buddhists,  for  the  Buddha  or  Jaina  Bodhist,
Kasyapa,  had  perhaps,  half  a  millenium  before  Gotama,  been
preaching  all  over  Baktria,  and,  said  Chinese  pilgrims,  had
converted  the  land.  (Sir  Henry  Bawlinson  in  R.  As.  «/.,  Sept.
85,  and  our  Appendix  A.)  Gotama  often  speaks  of  Kasyapa
and  his  other  two  predecessors,  and  their  doctrines  would  be
largely  commended  by  Zoroastrians,  and  might  well  develop
into  the  ethikal  and  mystik  faith  of  the  west.
Aryans,  in  descending  from  Kaspiana  (from  which  per-
chance the  name  of  the  third  Buddha),  would  be  in  close  contact
with  the  civilized  Turano-Akkads  and  their  Shemitik  disciples
—even  then  old  and  settled  peoples  with  a  ripe  faith  and  rich
mythology,  thronged  with  gods  and  demons,  prophets,  heroes
and  revelations  therefrom,  in  the  past  and  present.  They  had
detailed  kosmogonies,  good  laws,  and  wise  teachings,  mixed  up
with  sorcery  and  an  earnest  spirit  worship,  embracing,  of  course,
fire,  planets  and  all  the  powers  of  nature.
