z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 04.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 217
HIS PLACE IN HIS DHAMMA
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“Principle must live by itself, and not by the authority of man.
“If principle needs the authority of man it is no principle.
“If every time it becomes necessary to invoke the name of the founder to enforce the authority of Dhamma then it is no Dhamma.”
Such was the view he took of his own position regarding his Dhamma.
§ 2. The Buddha did not promise to give Salvation. He said He was Marga Data (Way Finder) and not Moksho Data (Giver of Salvation)
Most religions are described as revelations. But the Buddha’s religion is not a revelation.
A revealed religion is so called because it is a message of God to His creatures to worship their maker (i.e., God) and to save their souls.
Often the message is sent through a chosen individual who is called a prophet to whom the message is revealed and who reveals it to the people. It is then called Religion.
The obligation of the prophet is to ensure salvation to the faithful.
Salvation of the faithful means the saving of their souls, from being sent to hell provided they obey God’s commands and recognize the prophet as his messenger.
The Buddha never claimed that he was a prophet or a messenger of God. He repudiated any such description.
A more important point than this is that his religion is a discovery. As such it must be sharply distinguished from a religion which is called Revelation.
His religion is a discovery in the sense that it is the result of inquiry and investigation into the conditions of human life on earth and understanding of the working of human instincts with which man is
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