JOURNAL 



OF 



THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



No. 84.— December, 1838. 



I. — An Examination of the Pali Buddhistical Annals, No. 5. By the 

 Hon. George Turnour, Esq. Ceylon Civil Service. 



Having in the papers No. 3, and No. 4, given the lineage, as well 

 as the account of the birth, of Gotamo Buddho, as contained in these 

 Buddhistical records, I now send you an analysis of the Parinibbdna- 

 suttan, which is the history of his final extinction, or death. It is 

 the third Suttan of the Mahdwaggo in the Dfghanikdyo of the Sutta- 

 piiako. It consists of six Bhanawdva ; and commences with the 

 words " the following was heard by myself," being the introductory 

 expression used by A'nando at the first convocation, in propound- 

 ing each of the Suttdni of the Suttapitaho in that assembly. 



This Suttan is perhaps the most interesting section in the Pita/cat- 

 tayan. The fame of Sakya had, at the period of his death, been to a 

 certain extent established ; and the creed of that wonderful impostor 

 had been then recognized in the central regions, at least, of India. It 

 is justifiable therefore to infer, that a considerable portion of the inci- 

 dents recorded, as far as they could be produced by human imposture, 

 practised among a superstitious and credulous Asiatic population, 

 actually took place. Whereas at the period of his birth, and even up 

 to the time of his secession from a secular and domestic existence, the 

 circle must have been restricted almost to his own family, within 

 which alone the delusion of his predicted Buddhohood could have been 

 fostered, and its pretended realization been recognized. No external 

 co-operation, therefore, of a deluded populace could have been enlisted 

 on an extended scale, till a more advanced stage of his pilgrimage. 

 The account of the birth of Buddho given in the paper No. 3, must 

 consequently, as regards its narrative of the superstitious enthusiasm 

 6 i 



