244 
Note on the Literature of Thibet. 
[Aug, 
and indefatigable member of our Society, Mr. Hodgson, the resident in Nepal, lias 
availed himself, as the Society is aware, of the local opportunities he has enjoyed 
to collect a very considerable number of books current in that and the neighbouring 
countries : many of these he has presented to us ; others he has been authorised to 
procure for the College of Fort William, and they also have been transferred to 
the Society by the liberality of the Government. Hitherto, however, we have 
benefited but little by their presence ; the language and the characters being 
unknown to any of our Calcutta members. This defect is about to be supplied, 
and Mr. Csoma has expressed his willingness to compile a detailed catalogue, 
with such illustrations as may prove advisable, in conformity to a wish expressed 
by the Government that he should undertake the task. Mr. Csoma has also 
prepared a Grammar and a Dictionary of the Thibetan language, which he pro- 
poses to complete and publish during his stay in Calcutta. 
The short period that has elapsed since the arrival of Mr. Csoma in Calcutta, 
has not admitted of his entering upon any particular examination of the books 
in our possession. It appears, however, that in addition to sundry detached and 
miscellaneous volumes, we have in our library an entire and nearly half a duplicate 
copy of one of the great Thibetan collections, that called the Kah-gyur: of the 
other, or the Stan-gyur, we have not an entire set j although it is possible that we 
may have some of the works of which it consists. This is a matter for 
further examination. In the mean time, Mr. Csoma has favoured the Society 
with catalogues of the contents of both works, derived from original authorities. 
These, although far from being so minute as to leave nothing to be desired, offer a 
number of novel and curious particulars, some of which I have extracted for the 
information of the Society. 
The Kah-gyur is explained by Mr. Csoma to signify « translated precepts;’ its 
principal contents being the moral and religious doctrines taught by Sakyasinha 
and his disciples, and translated from Sanscrit into Thibetan, by the joint labour 
of Indian professors of the Bauddha tenets, and of their ablest converts amongst 
the natives of Thibet. The introduction of Buddhism into that country took place, 
according to original writers, referred to by Mr. Csoma and to the universal 
tradition of the Lamas, in the reign of Srong-tsan-gambo, in the 7th century 
of the Christian era. The principal works, both of the Kah-gyur and Stan-gyur, 
were translated in the eighth and ninth centuries, and some parts of them in more 
recent periods. The Stan-gyur being a collection of a similar character, as the 
Kah-gyur, as the name imports, or ‘ Translated instructions.’ Mr. Klaproth, who 
speaks of these woiks as the Gand-jour and Dan-jour, is mistaken in designating 
the latter as a commentary upon the former. 
kah-gyur. 
The Kah-gyur consists of 100 volumes, arranged in seven principal divisions or 
classes, termed I. Dulva. II. Sher-chhin. III. Phal-chhin. IV. Kon-tsegs. V. Do. 
VI. Myang-das. VII. Gyut. These are mostly contractions for appellations 
of greater length, as for instance, No. II. Sher-chhin, is properly Shes-rab, 
Kyi-pharol-tu-chhin-pa. Each has also its Sanscrit equivalent, as we shah presently 
particularise. 
I. Dul-va Vtnaya. Education, discipline, or propriety of conduct. This class 
consists of 13 volumes, comprising a variety of treatises in seven principal 
divisions, upon the discipline to be observed by the religious members of the 
Buddha faith, illustrated by legendary anecdotes of Sakya Sinha, and other indi- 
viduals of distinguished sanctity. 
_ n. Sher-chhin : The name of this division, at full length, is a literal translation of 
anSCnt Anja Pre V nd Puramitd, or venerable transcendental wisdom. The class 
