1834.] Remusat's Review of Buddhism. 429- 



has three ; water, the fourth, has four ; and earth, the fifth, has 

 five*. 



These elements are evolved uniformly one from another in the above 

 manner, and are revolved uniformly in the inverse order. 



Sunyatd, or the total abstraction of phenomenal properties, is the 

 result of the total suspension of nature's activity. It is the ubi, and 

 the modus, of the universal material principle in its proper and enduring 

 state of nirvriti, or of rest. It is not nothingness, except with the 

 sceptical few. The opposite of Sunyatd is Avidya. Now, if we revert 

 to the extract from the Long-yan-king, and remember that la penseef 

 Tintelligence luminensef, and la lumiere precieusef refer alike to Prajna 

 the material principle of all things, (which is personified as a goddess 

 by the religionists,) we shall find nothing left to impede a distiuct 

 notion of the author's meaning, beyond some metaphorical flourishes 

 analogous to that variety of descriptive epithets by which he has cha- 

 racterised the one universal principle. Tourbillon de vent, and tour- 

 billon d'eau, are the elements of air and of water, respectively ; and le 

 principe de solidite is the element of earth. 



" Tous les etres etant contenus dans la pure substance de Prajna une 

 idee surgit inopinement et produisit la fausse lumiere :" — that is, the 

 universal material principle, or goddess Prajna, whilst existing in its, 

 or her, true and proper state of abstraction and repose, was suddenly 

 disposed to activity, or impressed with delusive mundane affection 

 {Avidya). " Quand la fausse lumiere fut nee, le vide et l'obscurite 

 s'imposerent reciproquement des limites." The result of this errant 

 disposition to activity, or this mundane affection, was that the universal 

 void was limited by the coming into being of the first element, or dkdsh, 

 which as the primary modification of Sunyatd (space) has scarcely any 

 sensible properties. Such is the meaning of the passage " les formes 

 qui en resulterent etant indetermin£es," immediately succeeding the 

 last quotation. Its sequel again, " il y eut agitation et mouvement," 

 merely refers to mobility being the characteristic property of that ele- 

 ment (air) which is about to be produced. " De la naquitle tourbillon 

 de vent, qui contient les mondes." Thence (i. e. from dkdsh) pro- 

 ceeded the element of the circumambient air. " L'intelligence lumi- 



* There is always cumulation of properties, but the number assigned to each 

 element is variously stated. 



t Prajna is literally the supreme wisdom, videlicet, of nature. Light and flame 

 are types of this universal principle, in a state of activity. Nothing but extreme 

 confusion can result from translating these terms au pied de la lettre, and without 

 reference to their technical signification. That alone supremely governs both 

 the literal and metaphorical sense of words. 



