though we have no warrant for
doubting that he believed in the reality of the powers known as iddhi,
it is equally certain that he did not consider them essential or even
important for religion.

Somewhat similar is the attitude of early Buddhism to the spirit
world--the hosts of deities and demons who people this and other spheres.
Their existence is assumed, but the truths of religion are not dependent
on them, and attempts to use their influence by sacrifices and oracles
are deprecated as vulgar practices similar to juggling. Later Buddhism
became infected with mythology and the critical change occurs when
deities, instead of being merely protectors of the church, take an
active part in the work of salvation. When the Hindu gods developed into
personalities who could appeal to religious and philosophic minds as
cosmic forces, as revealers of the truth and guides to bliss, the
example was too attractive to be neglected and a pantheon of
Bodhisattvas arose. But it is clear that when the Buddha preached in
Kosala and Magadha, the local deities had not attained any such
position. The systems of philosophy then in vogue were mostly not
theistic, and, strange as the words may sound, religion had little to do
with the gods. If this be thought to rest on a mistranslation, it is
certainly true that the _dhamma_ had very little to do with _devas_. The
example of Rome under the Empire or of modern China makes the position
clearer. In neither would a serious enquirer turn to the ancient
national gods for spiritual help.

Often as the Devas figure in early Buddhist stories, the significance of
their appearance nearly always lies in their relations with the Buddha
or his disciples. Of mere mythology, such as the dealings of Brahma and
Indra with other gods, there is little. In fact the gods, though freely
invoked as accessories, are not taken seriously[718], and there are some
extremely curious passages in which Gotama seems to laugh at them, much
as the sceptics of the eighteenth century laughed at Jehovah. Thus in
the Kevaddha sutta[719] he relates how a monk who was puzzled by a
metaphysical problem applied to various gods and finally accosted Brahma
himself in the presence of all his retinue. After hearing the question,
which was Where do the elements cease and leave no trace behind? Brahma
replies, "I am the Great Brahma, the Supreme, the Mighty, the
All-seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of all, the Controller, the Creator, the