JOURNAL 



OF 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



No. 1. — January, 1832. 



I, — Abstract of the Contents of the Dul-vd, or first Portion of the 

 Kdh-gyur, from the Analysis of Mr. Alexander Csoma de Koros. 

 By H. H. Wilson, Sec. A. S. 



[Read 9th November.] 



At the last Meeting of the Asiatic Society, a general view of the con- 

 tents of the two great Tibetan works, the Kdh-gyur and Stdn-gyur, 

 and especially of the former, was submitted, founded on materials suppli- 

 ed by Mr. Csoma de Koros. It was also stated, that that gentleman had 

 consented to prepare a more detailed analysis of the whole from the copy 

 in the Society's possession ; and he has accordingly furnished the Socie- 

 ty on the present occasion, with the result of his subsequent labours, 

 being an analytical sketch of the contents of the Dul-vd, or first great 

 division of the Kah-gyur. 



It was stated in the preceding sketch, that the Kah-gyur usually con- 

 sisted of 100 large volumes, classed under seven great divisions ; each 

 comprising a greater or lesser number of volumes, treating of the religi- 

 ous practices and tenets of the Baud'dhas ; written originally in Sanscrit, 

 but translated into Tibetan, for the greater part in the ninth century. 



Of those divisions, it was also mentioned, that the first, or Dul-vd, 

 termed in Sanscrit Vinaya, Decorum or Discipline, occupied 13 volumes ; 

 and, as introductory to the whole, described the different observances 

 to be followed by the votaries of Bud'dhism, but more especially by 

 those, whether male or female, who adopted a religious life. These 

 observances are of a very comprehensive description, extending not 

 only to moral and ceremonial duties, but to modes of personal deport- 

 ment, and the different articles of food or attire. The precepts are 

 interspersed with legendary accounts, explaining the occasion on which 

 Sakya thought it necessary to communicate the instructions given. 



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