z:\ ambedkar\vol 011\vol11 04.indd MK SJ+YS 5 10 2013/YS 18 11 2013 251
WHAT IS NOT—DHAMMA
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There are also certain moral qualities which are attributed to God. God is said to be good, God is said to be just and God is said to be all-loving.
The question is did the Blessed Lord accept God as the creator of the universe.
The answer is, “No.” He did not.
There are various grounds why he rejected the doctrine of the Existence of God.
Nobody has seen God. People only speak of God.
God is unknown and unseen.
Nobody can prove that God has created the world. The world has evolved and is not created.
What advantage can there be in believing in God ? It is unprofitable.
The Buddha said that a religion based on God is based on speculation.
A religion based on God is, therefore, not worth having.
It only ends in creating superstition.
The Buddha did not leave the question there. He discussed the question in its various aspects.
The grounds on which he rejected the doctrine were various.
He argued that the doctrine of the Existence of God is not based on truth.
This he made clear in his dialogue with the two Brahmins, Vasettha and Bhardvaja.
Now a dispute arose between them as to which was the true path of salvation and which false.
About the time the Blessed One was journeying through Kosala with a great company of the brethren he happened to halt at the Brahmin village called Manaskata and stayed in the mango grove on the bank of the river Akiravati.
Manaskata was the town in which Vasettha and Bhardvaja lived. Having heard that the Blessed Lord was staying in their town, they went to him and each one put forth his point of view.
Bhardvaja said : “The path of Tarukkha is the straight path, this is the direct way which makes
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