1837.] Note on the language of the Buddhist Scriptures. 687 



gladly avail ourselves of an extract or two : — Mr. Turnour, alluding 

 to the notice of the life of Sa'kya from the Tibetan authorities by 

 Mr. Csoma in the As. Res. Vol. XX. writes — " The Tibetan life is ap- 

 parently a very meagre performance, containing scarcely any thing 

 valuable in the department of history ; whereas had the materials whence 

 it was taken been genuine, the translator would have been able to 

 bring forward and illustrate much valuable information on the pil- 

 grimages and the acts of Sa'kya in various parts of India during the 

 45 years he was Buddha. Even the superstitious facts recorded are 

 much more absurd than they are represented in the Pitakattayan. Thus 

 the dream of Maya Devi of having been rubbed by a Chhadanta 

 elephant, during her pregnancy, — is converted into a matter of fact, of 

 Sa'kya, ' in the form of an elephant having entered by the right side 

 into the womb or cavity of the body of Maya Devi !' * Chhadanta' 

 is taken literally as a.six~tusked elephant, whereas by our books Chha- 

 danta is the name of a lake beyond the Himalaya mountains where 

 the elephants are of a superior breed. It is mentioned twice in the 

 Mahawanso (Chaps. 5 and 22)." 



If the rationality of a story be a fair test of its genuineness, which 

 few will deny, the Pali record will here bear away the palm : — but 

 it is much to be regretted that we have not a complete translation of 

 the Sanskrit and of the Ceylonese " life" to place side by side. It is 

 impossible that instruction should not be gained by such an impar- 

 tial examination*. But to return to the subject under discussion ; my 

 friend Mr. Csoma writes from Titalya in the Purniya district : — 



* As an example of the information already obtained from Mr. Csoma's trans- 

 lated sketch, we may adduce the origin of the custom seemingly so universal 

 among the Buddhists of preserving pictorial or sculptured representations of the 

 facts of his life. — After his death the priests and minister at Rdjagriha are afraid 

 of telling the king Aj ata Satru thereof lest he should faint from the shock, 

 and it is suggested by Maha'kashyapa by way of breaking the intelligence to 

 him, that the Mah&manira or chief priest should "go speedily into the king's 

 garjden, and cause to be represented in painting, how Chomdandas (Bhagav&n) 

 was in Tushitd : how in the shape of an elephant he entered his mother's womb : 

 how at the foot of the holy fig-tree he attained supreme perfection : how at Va- 

 rdnasi he turned the wheel of the law of twelve kinds, (taught his doctrines :) — 

 how he at Sravasii displayed great miracles ; — how at the city of Ghachen he 

 descended from the Tray a Strinsha heaven, whither he had gone to instruct his 

 mother : — and lastly how having accomplished his acts in civilizing and instruct- 

 ing men in his doctrine at several places, he went to his last repose in the city of 

 Kusha in Assam." Now whether the book in question was written sooner or 

 later, it explains the practice equally and teaches us how we may successfully 

 analyze the events depicted in the drawings of Adjanta, perchance, or the sculp- 

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