76 Quotations from original Sanscrit [Feb, 



existent is he whom all know as the only true Being ; and, though 

 the state of Nirvritti be his proper and enduring state, yet, for the 

 sake of Pravritti, (creation), having become Pancha-jnydndtmika, he 

 produced the five Buddhas thus ; from Suvi-suddha-dharma-dhdtujajnydn, 

 Vairo chana, the supremely wise, from whom proceed the element of 

 earth, the sight, and colours ; and from Adarshana-jnyun, Akshobhya, 

 from whom proceed the element of water, the faculty of hearing, and 

 all sounds ; and from Pratyavekshana-jnydn, Ratna Sambhava, from 

 whom proceed the element of fire, the sense of smell, and all odours ; 

 and from Samta-jnydn, Amitdbha, from whom proceed the element of 

 air, the sense of taste, and all savours ; and from Krityanushtha-jnydn, 

 Amogha Siddha, from whom proceed the element of ether, the faculty 

 of touch, and all the sensible properties of outward things dependent 

 thereon. All these five Buddhas are Pravritti kdmang, or the authors 

 of creation. They possess the five jnyans, the five colours, the five 

 mudras, and the five vehicles*. The five elements, five senses, and 

 five respective objects of sense, are forms of themf. And these five 

 Buddhas each produced a Bodhi-Satwa, (for the detail, see Asiatic 

 Society's Transactions, vol. xvi.) The five Bodhi-Satwas are Srishti- 

 kdmang, or the immediate agents of creation ; and each, in his turn, 

 having become Sarvaguna, (invested with all qualities, or invested with 

 the three gunas,) produced all things by his fiat. (Comment on quot. 1.) 

 3. All things existent (in the versatile universe) proceed from some 

 cause (hetu) : that cause is the Tathdgata% (Adi Buddha) ; and that 



* See Appendix A. 



f The five Dhyani Buddhas are said to be Pancha Bhvtta, Pancha Indriya, and 

 Pancha Ayatan dkar. Hence my conjecture that they are mere personifications, 

 according to a theistic theory of the phenomena of the sensible world. The 

 6th Dhyani Buddha is, in like manner, the icon and source of the 6th sense, and 

 its object, or Manasaa.nl Dharma, i. e. the sentient principle, soul of the senses, 

 or internal sense, and moral and intellectual phsenomena. In the above passage, 

 however, the association of the five elements is not the most accredited one, which 

 (for example) associates hearing and sounds to Akdsh. 



\ This important word is compounded of Tatha, thus, and gata, gone or got, 

 and is explained in three ways. 1st, thus got or obtained, viz. the rank of a 

 Tathdgata, obtained by observance of the rules prescribed for the acquisition of 

 perfect wisdom, of which acquisition, total cessation of births is the efficient con- 

 sequence. 2nd, thus gone, viz. the mundane existence of the Tathdgata, gone so 

 as never to return, mortal births having been closed, and Nirvritti obtained, by 

 perfection of knowledge. 3rd, gone in the same manner as it or they (birth or 

 births) came ; the sceptical and necessitarian conclusion of those who held that 

 both metempsychosis and absorption are beyond our intellect (as objects of . 

 knowledge), and independent of our efforts (as objects of desire and aversion — as 

 contingencies to which we are liable) ; and that that which causes births, causes 



