The Satapatha Brahmana : Books I and II [Part 1] (SBE Vol. 12) Sacred Books of the East

Disagreements concerning the nature and extent of the universe constitute a focus of theological debate which permeates Buddhism every eve. While there have been numerous attempts to catalog the details of the Buddhist cosmologies, none has attempted a general interpretation of their underlying intention. This work attempts to begin the process of interpreting the major phases of Buddhist Cosmoogica speculation by seeing in them various dramas of salvation tailored to the philosophical and theological predilections of their respective traditions. To a large extent, this interpretation relies on an examination of continuities between the Buddhist cosmologies and those of the hedonistic world as a whole. In the course of this study, two major cosmological traditions emerge; those that rely on metaphors of time and those which rely on metaphors of time, and those that rely on metaphors of space. The former is associated with the Hinayana and the atter with the Mahayana forms of Buddhism. Each draws on images of motion and light to articulate its vision of the drama of salvation.

About the Author
Friedrich Max Muller was a great linguist and scholar born in Germany. He began his study of Sanskrit under Prof. Brockhaus and soon chose it as his special pursuit. The East India Company commissioned him to edit the Rigveda, which resulted in the publication of six giant volumes on the subject. His publications include a Sanskrit translation of Kalidasa's Meghaduta, a History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, and an Introduction to the Science of Religion. Before his death in 1900 at Oxford, he was crowned with the most honors and awards a scholar could aspire for.