JOURNAL 



OF 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



JVo. 9.— September, 1832. 



I. — Analysis of the Kah-gyur. By H. H. Wilson, Sec. As. Society. 

 « (Continued from page 8.) 



Sher-chin. 

 At a former meeting of the Society, a summary of the contents of 

 the Dul-va', or first part of the large Tibetan collection, the Kah- 

 gyur, derived from the more detailed catalogue of Mr. Csoma de 

 Koros, was presented to the Society. Since that period Mr. Csoma 

 has completed the catalogue of the whole work, and I propose on the 

 present occasion to offer an abstract of the information thence obtained. 



II. — The Sher-chin. 

 The second portion of the Kah-gyur is entitled the Shes-rab kyi 

 pha rol tu phyin pd, or by contraction Sher phyin, pronounced Sher- 

 chin. In Sanscrit Aryd Bhagavati Prajna Pdramitd, or simply 

 P?*ajnd Pdramitd, the two first words implying the venerable goddess, 

 epithets applied to Prajna, wisdom or understanding; also styled Para- 

 mild, or that by the means of which life is traversed and emancipation 

 obtained, from Par am beyond, and Ita gone ; and which may be ren- 

 dered therefore Transcendent or transcendental wisdom. 



The Chinese explain it correctly, " le moyende parvenir a 1'autre rive 

 par la science : parvenir a 1'autre rive est une expression mystique pour 

 indiquer — l'absorption du contemplatif et sa delivrance finale." — 

 Journal des Savans, Mai, 1831. 



This class consists of six different works, in twenty-one large volumes ; 

 of these, the first five all bear the same title Aryd Bhagavati Prajna 

 Pdramitd, and are only discriminated by the titles expressing the 

 number of stanzas which they contain. The sixth division is of a 

 more miscellaneous character. 



2 B 



