Chakia-muni

Chakia-Muni was a name adopted by Buddha, according to the legendary accounts given by the Mongol books, which are only translations from the Thibetan or Sanskrit. He laid down certain principles of morality as the foundation of his religious system. These he reduced to four: 1. The power of pity resting upon immovable bases. 2. The avoidance of all cruelty. 3. An unlimited compassion towards all creatures. 4. An inflexible conscience. Then follows the decalogue, or ten special prescriptions and prohibitions: 1, not to kill; 2, not to rob; 3, to be chaste; 4, not to bear false witness; 5, not to lie; 6, not to swear; 7, to avoid all impure words; 8, to be disinterested; 9, not to avenge one's self; 10, not to be superstitious. The new prophet pretended to have received these precepts by revelation from heaven; and when he died, at the age of eighty, they began to spread throughout all Asia, as a divine code of morality. SEE BUDDHA.