called medhī, derived from medha, sacrifice.[1] The symbolism of the pradakshinā, or circumambulatory rite performed by Buddhist pilgrims, was likewise derived from Vedic sun-worship. The Aryan people, when they went in solemn procession round an altar, keeping the right hand towards it—and also their cattle as they trod out the corn on the threshing-floor—were, like the Buddhist pilgrims, "turning the wheel of the Law,"[2] i.e., they were following the path of the Universal Law which directed the Sun in its orbit. The Buddha only changed the Aryan concept of the Law from a law of sacrifice to a law of spiritual evolution propounded by himself. In Buddhist art, therefore, the ancient Aryan sun-emblem remained the symbol of the Law, and early Buddhist ritual was a purified form of the ancient Aryan ritual minus the Brahman priest and his elaborate and costly animal sacrifices.
But, it maybe asked, if the ancient Aryans always, like the Buddhists, built stūpas to contain the ashes of their illustrious dead, why are there no traces of their existence to be found before Buddhist times? The explanation is also to be found in Vedic ritual. Like the tabernacles used in the Vedic sacrifices, the stūpas were temporary structures built for the occasion of the sacrifice, and removed when the sacrifice was over. The sacrifices to the spirits of the ancestors only extended to three generations. If the shrāddhas had been duly performed by his relatives, the spirit of the great-grandfather needed no more their pious help. He passed away to the regions beyond the solar sphere.
- ↑ Medhī or methī was also the name of the circle made by the Aryan cattle when they trod out the corn on the threshing-floor.
- ↑ In certain Vedic rites a chariot-wheel was fastened to a post, and turned towards the right by a Brahman, while he chanted a hymn from the Sam-Veda. Hence the expression, "Turning the Wheel of the Law."
