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tsook Reviews

Gods in Early Buddhism by l'I. M. J. Marasinha B'A. (Hons.) Ceylon; Ph.D.(Birmingham) 3or pp, Colombo.

'fhe author ol this book is a Senior Lecturer in Buddhist Philosophy atthe Vidyalankara Campus, University o{ Sri Lanka. He himsel{ states thatthe "book is a study in their social and mythoiogical milieu as depicted in theNikayas of the I'ali Canon", IIe recognises the evolution of the social.culturaland religious elements continuing from Indus civilization, pre-Aryan tribalcultures, Vedic and Gangetic cultures. IIe traces the development of certainthought processes oI each of these traditions until the evolution of the societyo{ the Gangetic basin. The Buddha appears in this scene.

The most valuable contribution is the ana,Iysis of the concepts that changedwith changing tirnes. The development of philosophical ideas and divine beingsthrough tiibal, underdeveloped, to highly developed religio-social values has

been. worked out carefully; having regard to all background cultural trends-tribai, Indus, vedic and gangetic.

During 6th century B.C. the Brahamins and Kshatri.vas stood in the fore-front. It was the Buddha who changed the scene. A new Buddhist cosmologycame to be created. The author explains how the teaching of the Buddha wasan interpretation and a refashioning of traditional religious and pirilosophicalconceptJ presented without discarding those of popular appeal and displeasingttie b;lie;ers. This subtle but clever synthesis was the supreme contributionto Indian thought. It was this approach that won the hearts and minds of allclasses.

In an ingenious manner Buddhism trans{ormed the beliefs and even thegods of traditional cultures into seemingiy new shapes and {orms under newnames, The well known examples are those oi Brahma, Indra and Yama etc.Ihereby men and women of all classes at all levels, Yakl<has, Nagas etc. chaogedtheir way of iife and reiigion. lleaven and happiness can be attained only byvirtuous conduct by sila, samadhi and pafrfia and the Nobei Eightfold Path.This was a peaceful revolution. The Arahat is held out as the highest ideal andthe Buddha is the supreme persooality among gods and men.

The author has attempted to work out the stages and processes oI thistransformation with material culled from the Pali texts" using the socio-religiousapproach. He has outlined, I think, convincingly the synthesis of the ancieltand the uew, This re-valuation is the underlying essence of the birth of godsin Buddhism. In doing so he has clarified the evolution of human thought pro-cesses underlyiog the philosophy oI gods in Buddhism in a manner that no one,tr believe, has done with such success.

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NANDADEYA WIJESEKERA