"1. That though the Abhidliamnia Pitaka favors the negative view, the affirmative may easily be jiroved from the Sutta and Viuaya, and especially from the Dhamma- pada. 2. That the Abhidhamnia is of no authority, and contains the notion, not of Buddha, bnt of his l"i)llowers. 3. Tliat it is stated that Buddha saw his disciples after attaining Nirvana, and even after death ; and th.u, vhere- fore Nirvana is not extinction of existence. 4. That the expressions used for Nirvana in the Dhammapada convey a sense of rest, immortality, eternity, etc., and therefore Nirvana does not mean nihilism."
This statement of his case, which is a more consistent one, has been made the subject of special inquiry by D'Alwis (^Review of Max Miiller^s Dhammapada, Cey- lon, 1871), a member of the Koyal Asiatic Society, ajid an Orientalist of no mean order, and the result is its complete refutation. In the first place D'Alwis proves that the Abhidhamma properly belongs to the discourses of Buddha, and that the "three baskets," as the differ- ent parts of the code are called, should be regarded as one whole. Jloreover, the negative side of the ques- tion may be proved from the Sutta and Yinaya, as well as from the Dhammapada; for "the non-exist- ence of an absolute Creator and of a soul was the foundation of the Buddhist doctrine of Nirvana ; and therefore there could be no condition of the soul after the final ' destruction of the elements and the germs of existence,' or Nirvana." The third point, he shows, rests only on legendary tales, and is in direct contradic- tion to the canon which professor Muller himself says must be our only authority. The fourth point he dis- proves at some length by showing the difficulty in- herent in all the attempted definitions of Nirvana, the inaccuracy of Max MuUer's interpretations, and that the expressions used in the Dhammapada, when taken with the other admitted doctrines of Buddhism, do clearly prove that Nirvana meant nikHism. See Muller, Lectures on the Science of Religion, p. 1 sq., 131 sq. ; id. Chips from a German Workshop, i, 213, 227 sq., 243, 276 sq. ; JMoff'at, Compar. Hist, of Religions, pt. ii, p. 229 sq. ; Burnouf, as cited above; Eitel, Three Lectures on Buddhism (Hong Kong, 1871, 8vo), especially p. 21 sq. ; Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, i, 233 sq. ; Cont. Rev. Jan. 1868, p. 81 ; and the literature quoted under Buddhism and Lam.ms.^j. (J. H. W.)
Ni'san (Heb. Nisan', "O'^S, from netz, |'l], a f over, or as Gescnius and Fiirst think, after Benfey, from the Persian «ff, new), the first month of the Hebrew sacred year, called Auib in the Pentateuch, for which it is substituted only in the time of the Captivity (Neb, ii, 1 ; Esth. iii, 7 ; Sept. "Sutjav, but most copies omit in Esth.). On the first day of the month the Jews fasted for the death of the children of Aaron (Lev. x, 1-3). On the tenth day was observed a fast ft)r the death of Miriam, the sister of Moses, and every one provided himself with a lamb for the Passover. On this day the Israelites passed over the Jordan, under the con-
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duct of Joshua. On the fourteenth day, in the even- ing, they sacrificed the Paschal lamb ; and the day fol- lowing, being the tilteenth, the Passover was celebrated (Exod. xiii, 18). The Asiatic Church, when appoint- ing the Paschal observance, therefore selected the four- teenth of Nisan. She could associate no other date with TO nddxa- The observance of this fourteenth day of the month by the Christians of Asia gave rise furthermore to the term Quatrodecimans (q. v.) ; but the observance, it should be borne in mind, was in commemoration of the death, not of the last supper, of Jesus. On the sixteenth day of Nisan the Hebrews offered the sheaf of the ears of barley, as the first-fruits of the harvest of that year (Lev. xxiii, 9). The twen- ty-first day was the octave of the Passover. On the twenty-sixth day tliey fasted in memory of the death of Joshua, and on tliis day they began their prayers to obtain the rains of the spring. Lastly, on the twenty- ninth they called to mind the fall of the walls of Jeri- cho. See Month.
Nisbet, Alexander, a Scotch divine, noted as a Biblical student and as an Orientalist, flourished in the second half of the 17th century as pastor at Irvine— a to\vn which has been fortunate enough to enjoy the pastoral labors of other Scotch expositors, such as Dick- son and Hutcheson. Nisbet died about 1G90. He pub- lished in 1658 A Brief Exposition of the First and Sec- ond Epistles General of Peter. " Succinct and senten- tious in its character, it is at the same time solid and useful." In 1694 a posthumous work appeared under the title, An Exposition, with Practical Observations upon the Book of Ecclesiastes. The latter is regarded as the most important of his works, and is worthy of con- sultation, being lucid and judicious. The argument of each chapter is drawni up at length and with some care. Some attention is given to the precise meaning of the more important Hebrew terms used by the sacred wri- ter. His whole tone is devout and practical, such as we might expect from one who, according to the recom- mendation prefixed to it by IJalph Rogers and J. Spaul- ding, "by assiduous study of the Scriptures, did so trav- ail in birth towards the forming of Christ in his hearers that he may be said to have died in childbearing to Christ."