P. Andrada la Crozius, one of the first Europeans who went to Nepal and Thibet, in speaking of the god whom they worshiped there—Indra—tells us that they said he spilt his blood for the salvation of the human race, and that he was pierced through the body with nails. He further says that, although they do not say he suffered the penalty of the cross, yet they find, nevertheless, figures of it in their books.[188:1]
In regard to Beausobre's ideas that the religion of India is corrupted Christianity, obtained from the Manicheans, little need be said, as all scholars of the present day know that the religion of India is many centuries older than Mani or the Manicheans.[188:2]
In the promontory of India, in the South, at Tanjore, and in the North, at Oude or Ayoudia, was found the worship of the crucified god Bal-li. This god, who was believed to have been an incarnation of Vishnu, was represented with holes in his hands and side.[188:3]
The incarnate god Buddha, although said to have expired peacefully at the foot of a tree, is nevertheless described as a suffering Saviour, who, "when his mind was moved by pity (for the human race) gave his life like grass for the sake of others."[188:4]
A hymn, addressed to Buddha, says:
"Persecutions without end,
Revilings and many prisons,
Death and murder,
These hast thou suffered with love and patience
(To secure the happiness of mankind),
Forgiving thine executioners."[188:5]
He was called the "Great Physician,"[188:6] the "Saviour of the World,"[188:7] the "Blessed One,"[188:8] the "God among Gods,"[188:9] the "Anointed," or the "Christ,"[188:10] the "Messiah,"[188:11] the "Only Begotten,"[188:12] etc. He is described by the author of the "Cambridge Key"[188:13] as sacrificing his life to wash away the offenses of mankind, and thereby to make them partakers of the kingdom of heaven. This induces him to say "Can a Christian doubt that this Buddha was the TYPE of the Saviour of the World."[189:1]
As a spirit in the fourth heaven, he resolves to give up "all that glory, in order to be born into the world," "to rescue all men from their misery and every future consequence of it." He vows "to deliver all men, who are left as it were without a Saviour."[189:2]