_Buddha is slandered in Thawattie -- Questions put to him by
a pounha -- Story of Anatapein's daughter -- Conversion of a
pounha whose navel emitted rays of light -- Blank in a great
part of Buddha's life -- Story of Dewadat -- His jealousy
towards Buddha -- His friendship with Prince Adzatathat -- His
ambition -- His attempt to kill Buddha -- His miserable end._
While the most excellent Buddha was in the Dzetawon monastery, the
heretics of Thawattie made another attempt to lower, nay, to destroy his
reputation. They prevailed upon Thondarie, a woman entirely devoted to
their interests, to spread the rumour that she had spent a night in the
apartments of Buddha. When the calumny had been noised abroad, they
suborned a gang of drunkards, to whom they promised a large sum of
money, if they would do away with the instrument of the slander. They
accordingly selected a favourable opportunity, killed Thondarie, and
threw her body into a cluster of bushes close to the monastery. When the
crime had been perpetrated, the heretics raised a cry all over the
country inquiring about Thondarie. She could nowhere be found. Search
was made in every direction, until at last, by the secret directions of
their emissaries, the body was found on the spot where it had been
apparently concealed. The party hostile to Buddha laid the crime at his
door. The king of the country, urged on by them, ordered a strict
inquiry to be made. The infamous trick was at last discovered in the
following manner. The perpetrators of the deed happened to go into a
drinking-place. Heated by the liquor they had taken, they began to
accuse each other of having killed Thondarie. Their conversation was
overheard by one of the king's servants, who had them arrested and led
to the palace. The king said to them, "Wicked men, is it true that you
have killed the woman Thondarie?" They answered, "It is true we have
killed her." "Who advised you to commit the murder?" "The Deitty
teachers, who have paid us one thousand pieces of silver." Indignant at
such a horrible deed, the king ordered the murderers and their advisers
to be put to death. Their punishment consisted in their being buried in
the earth up to their waist. They were subsequently covered with a heap
of straw, which being set fire to, they were burnt to death. Buddha told
his disciples that what had happened on this melancholy occasion was but
a just retribution for his having in a former existence been drunk, and
in that state abused and slandered a holy personage.
In one of his preaching excursions, Gaudama converted a distinguished
pounha, who asked him, "Illustrious Buddha, what has the great Brahma
done to merit the extraordinary glory that encompasses his person and
the unsurpassed felicity that he enjoys?" To whom he answered, "The
great Brahma, during several existences, has bestowed abundant alms on
the needy, delivered many people from great perils, and delighted in
giving instruction to the ignorant. Such meritorious deeds have procured
for him the transcendent rank that he occupies, and secured to him for
an immense period of time the matchless happiness that he possesses."
Two rich men, one of Thawattie, and the other a denizen of the Ougga
city, had in their youth, when engaged in their studies, promised each
other that he who should have a daughter would give her in marriage to
the son of the other. When they had grown up, the rich man of Thawattie
became a disciple of Buddha, but his friend followed the teachings of
the heretics. In due time Anatapein, for such was the name of the
former, had a beautiful daughter. His friend Ougga had also a fine
grown-up son. It came to pass that Ougga on a certain day arrived from
his place with five hundred carts of goods to Thawattie, for the
purpose of trading. He lodged, as a matter of course, in his friend's
house. During the conversation Ougga reminded his host of their former
promise, and declared that he would be too happy to have it fulfilled
without delay. Anatapein, having consulted his wife and daughter, and
secured their consent, agreed to the proposal that was made to him. The
pious rich man, however, was somewhat concerned respecting the dangers
of his daughter's position in the midst of upholders of false doctrines.
He gave her a retinue of female attendants, who could, by their advice
and conversation, maintain intact in her the faith in Buddha. When the
bride arrived, after a long journey, to Ougga's city, she was desired by
her father-in-law to go in the company of his wife to pay her respects
to his teachers, who were sitting quite naked, with dishevelled hairs,
in the midst of the most disgusting uncleanness, under a shed prepared
for them. Unused to such an unsightly and revolting display, the modest
girl recoiled back with a becoming horror, refusing even to cast a look
at them. Enraged at the contempt shown to his teachers, the unnatural
father-in-law threatened to send her away from his house, as being an
unsuitable match for his son. Firm in her faith, she withstood all the
efforts that were made to induce her to alter her resolution and pay
attention to such individuals. She went back into her apartments. Having
somewhat recovered her spirits, and regained her usual calm and serene
composure, the pious young lady began, in the presence of her
mother-in-law and other ladies of the town, to praise and extol the
glory, modesty, meekness, and all the other qualifications which adorned
her great teacher and his disciples. The hearers were delighted at all
that they heard, and expressed an eager desire to see them and hear
their instructions.
On that very day the compassionate Buddha was at an early hour, as
usual, reviewing the beings dwelling on the island of Dzampoudipa,
endeavouring to discover those that were well disposed to hear the
truth. His searching glance soon discovered what was going on in the
house of the rich man Ougga, and the good dispositions of many of its
inmates. "Thither," said he, "I shall hasten to preach the law, for many
shall be converted." Hereupon he summoned five hundred disciples to
attend him. They all took their pattas and other articles. With his
company he flew through the air, and soon alighted in the courtyard of
the rich man's house. All were rejoiced to see Buddha and his disciples.
They lent a most attentive ear to his instructions. The rich man, his
household, and a great number of the people of the town were converted.
Anouroudha was left at Ougga to complete, perfect, and extend the good
work so happily begun. Buddha in all haste returned to Thawattie.
At that time a great noise was made throughout the country on account of
a certain pounha whose navel emitted a sort of light in the shape of a
moon. He belonged to the party of unbelievers. He was led by them into
every village and town, as a living proof of the power they possessed.
At last his friends introduced him into the Dzetawon monastery. He was
no sooner introduced into Buddha's presence, when the prodigy suddenly
ceased. He went away somewhat annoyed at his misfortune; but he had
scarcely crossed the threshold of the monastery when the light
reappeared. Three times he came before the great preacher, and three
times the light was completely eclipsed. No doubt could be entertained
that there was in Buddha some secret power superior to the one he
possessed. The pounha was at once disconcerted and bewildered. In his
ignorance he attributed the accident to some superior magical formula
possessed by Buddha, and asked him to teach him the said formula. Buddha
said to him, "O pounha! I possess no charm; I ignore all magical
formulas. There is in me but one virtue; it is that which I have
gathered at the foot of the Bodi tree during the forty-nine days that I
have spent there in the deepest meditation. As to what attracts now the
attention of the people in your person, you are indebted for it to the
offering of a gold coronet, in the shape of a moon, you made to a Buddha
during a former existence. The reward bestowed on you for such a good
work is but a transient one. It can afford you no real, substantial, and
lasting happiness. Hearken to my doctrine; it will confer on you a
never-ending recompense." He went on explaining to him many points of
the law. The pounha believed in Buddha; nay, he applied for the dignity
of Rahan, and finally became a Rahanda.
_N.B_.--The history of Buddha offers an almost complete blank as to what
regards his doings and preachings during a period of nearly twenty-three
years,[1] beginning with the twenty-first season, when he was fifty-six
years old, and ending with the forty-fourth season, having reached the
patriarchal age of seventy-nine years. So entirely are we kept in
ignorance of the important transactions that took place during so long a
portion of Buddha's life, that the writer, after having vainly
consulted several manuscripts, is reluctantly obliged to come to the
same conclusion as that which the Burmese authors have arrived at, viz.,
that there is a complete disagreement as to even the names of the places
where Buddha spent the twenty-three remaining seasons. Out of regard for
the rich man Anatapein, who for so many years had been one of his most
liberal supporters, Buddha spent the greatest part of the remaining
seasons in the Dzetawon monastery. During the few others he seems to
have stayed at or near Radzagio, chiefly in the Weloowon monastery. The
amount of seasons spent by our Phra from the time he obtained the
Buddhaship till his death is forty-five.
I find related, as a fact worthy of notice, the donation by a rich widow
of Wethalie, named Wisaka, of the celebrated Pouppayon monastery. It was
situated not far from the Dzetawon, in an eastern direction from that
famous place. It is mentioned that when Phra sallied from the Dzetawon
monastery by the eastern gate, the people of the country knew that he
was going to dwell for awhile in the Pouppayon monastery; when, on the
other hand, he was observed to leave it by the northern gate, all the
people understood that he was undertaking a journey through the country
for the purpose of preaching. The epoch of this donation is not certain.
It appears from some particulars indirectly alluded to that it must have
taken place when Buddha was sixty years old.
In following our manuscript, we find inserted in this place the detailed
accounts respecting Dewadat, related by Buddha himself in the Dzetawon
monastery, in the presence of a large party of his disciples. The fact
of Buddha mentioning the name of Adzatathat as king of Radzagio, leaves
no doubt respecting the time when the awful punishment is supposed to
have been meted out to Dewadat, on account of the many heinous sins laid
to his charge. Adzatathat, having murdered his father Pimpathara, by
starving him to death in a prison, became king of Radzagio, and
succeeded him when Buddha was nearly seventy-two years old. He was
already king, as the sequel will show, when Dewadat was as yet his
spiritual adviser. It is probable that the following narrative was made
not more than two years after the above date.
When the most excellent Buddha was in the Dzetawon monastery, alluding
to the sad fate that had fallen Dewadat, he related the causes that had
brought on this dreadful occurrence.
At a certain time, when Buddha was spending a season in the Kosamby
country, the people came in great numbers every day to the monastery to
bring abundant alms, and pay their respects to him and the assembly. On
certain occasions they made inquiries about the most distinguished
members of the assembly, such as Thariputra, Maukalan, Anouroudda,
Ananda, Bagoo, Kimila, and others, giving utterance to the feelings of
admiration and love they entertained towards them. But they never took
the least notice of Dewadat. The latter keenly resented the studied
slight; the more so, because he thought that in his capacity of member
of the assembly and of his royal descent, he was entitled to as much
consideration as many others, who in this twofold respect were greatly
his inferiors. He resolved to leave the company of Buddha and go to some
other place. He went to Radzagio and ingratiated himself in the favours
of the young Prince Adzatathat, son of King Pimpathara, The young
prince, taken up with the grave manners of the new-comer, acknowledged
him as his teacher, and built for him a monastery on the Yauthitha hill,
close to the city.
Some years afterwards Buddha came to Radzagio to spend a season in the
Weloowon monastery. Dewadat went to his monastery. Having paid his
respects in the usual manner and occupied a becoming place, he three
times requested the permission of having an assembly or thinga of his
own, quite distinct from the other, which was under the immediate
management of Buddha. On this point he three times received a direct
refusal to his demand. From that day the jealousy he entertained towards
Buddha waxed to a base envy, which soon generated in his soul a deadly
hatred against him. He made up his mind to break with Buddha all ties of
spiritual relationship, and to become the chief of a new religious body.
To succeed in his impious design he required the support of the secular
arm. The king of Magatha was in favour of Buddha, but his son had warmly
espoused the cause of Dewadat. In such a position, the evil-disposed
Dewadat advised Prince Adzatathat to compass the destruction of his
father, in order to become king. The ambitious son followed the
detestable advice, and put an end to his father's life by starving him
to death in a prison, in spite of his own mother's exertions to save her
royal husband's life.
It was in the thirty-seventh season of Buddha's public mission that
Adzatathat ascended the throne of Magatha. Under the new king's
auspices, Dewadat carried everything before him with a high hand.
Assured of the new king's support, he hired thirty bowmen and promised
them an ample reward if they killed Buddha. The ruffians gladly agreed
to the proposal. But when they were on the point of committing the
crime, they felt themselves overawed by the presence of Buddha. Instead
of executing the order they had received, they fell at his feet, craved
his pardon, listened to his preaching, and were converted one after the
other. Disappointed on this point, Dewadat designed another plan to rid
himself of the great preacher. He watched the moment when Buddha was
walking at the foot of a hill, named Weitsa-gout. From the summit he
rolled a large stone that was to crush his enemy. Fortunately on its way
down the hill's side it met with a small obstacle, on which it split
into several parts. One splinter alone hurt the toe of one of Buddha's
feet, and severely bruised it. On hearing of such a nefarious and
cowardly attempt, the disciples hastened to the spot and conveyed their
beloved master to his monastery. They offered to keep guard round his
person, to prevent the repetition of other attempts on his life. But
Buddha said to them that no mortal had the power to hurt him so far as
to cause his death. He thanked them for this new token of their
affectionate regard towards him, and bade them return to their
respective places. The celebrated physician Dzewaka, having been sent
for, applied a bandage, which, being removed on the following morning,
it was found, to the surprise and joy of all present, that the injured
toe was perfectly cured. On another occasion Dewadat made a last attempt
on Buddha's life, in the suburbs of Radzagio, by the means of an
elephant, infuriated and maddened by strong liquor forced into his
throat. The animal was let loose in one of the streets which Gaudama was
perambulating gathering alms in his mendicant's pot. But far from doing
any injury to Buddha, the elephant, having come into his presence, stood
for awhile, and then knelt before him in token of respect. In this
manner Dewadat signally failed in this last wicked attempt.
Dewadat differed from his cousin on some points of discipline; and this
difference occasioned the schism that he meditated to establish.[2] He
had proposed to Buddha to make it obligatory on all Rahans to live in
forests at the foot of certain trees; not to receive food from the
people in their own places, but to use only as articles of food such
things as they could procure by their exertions; to use robes made up of
rags collected in the dust of public thoroughfares, and not such as
might be offered by pious laymen; to abstain from fish and meat; and to
dwell in unroofed places. Gaudama positively refused to accede to his
demands. Meanwhile he meekly warned him against the sin of schism,
telling him that the commission of such an offence would throw the
perpetrator into the hell Awidzi for a whole revolution of nature. Deaf
to such a salutary warning, Dewadat precipitated himself into schism. He
gained over to his party five hundred inexperienced Rahans of the Witzi
country, and with them dwelt in the monastery of Gayathitha. He signally
failed in his attempt to draw Ananda to his side. Thariputra, by the
advice of Buddha, went to Dewadat's place. Profiting from the time he
was asleep at a distance, he prevailed upon the five hundred Rahans to
abandon schism and return to Buddha, the centre of unity, who was then
in the Dzetawon monastery in Wethalie. Rising from his sleep, Dewadat
fell into a paroxysm of rage at the trick played on him. He instantly
resolved to start for the Dzetawon monastery, to have his revenge on
Buddha for the injury done unto him. He was carried in a litter.
Messenger after messenger informed Buddha of the approach of his
antagonist. But he calmly said to his disciples: "Beloved sons, do not
trouble yourselves. Dewadat shall not see my face nor enter the
precincts of this place." Information was, in haste, conveyed that
Dewadat had actually reached the tank close to the monastery, and was
resting a while under the shade of a tree. Gaudama calmly gave the same
assurance to his trembling disciples. But the moment of a terrible
punishment was at hand. Dewadat, quitting his couch, stood up for a
while, to refresh his wearied limbs. But he was seen by his astonished
and bewildered companions gradually sinking into the earth, first up to
his knees, then to his navel, and finally to his shoulders. At that
moment he humbled himself, confessed his fault, acknowledged and
proclaimed the glory of Buddha. He then disappeared, wrapt in flame, and
fell to the bottom of the hell Awidzi. His punishment consists in having
his feet sunk ankle-deep in a burning ground; his head is covered with a
red-hot pan, that caps his head down to the lobe of the ears; two huge
red-hot iron bars transfixt him horizontally from right to left, two
from back to front, and one impales him from top to bottom. He shall
have to suffer in that frightful position during a revolution of nature.
But, for his tardy and sincere repentance, he shall be delivered, and,
by his exertions in practising virtue, he shall become a Pitzegabuddha,
under the name of Atisara.
Adzatathat ruled over the two countries of Enga and Magatha. His mother
was Waydahi, the sister of King Pathenadi, who ruled over the two
countries of Kaci and Kosala. Adzatathat, who was of a bellicose temper,
quarrelled with his uncle on account of some districts in Kaci, which he
seized by force of arms. Unable to resist the army of his nephew,
Pathenadi offered to the invader the hand of his daughter Watzera-komma.
The offer was accepted, and a reconciliation followed. Three years
afterwards, Pathenadi lost his throne, which was seized by Meittadoubba,
a son he had had by a concubine. Pathenadi went to Radzagio to ask
assistance against the usurper from his son-in-law. But he died on his
way to that place.
It was under the rule of Meittadoubba, in the forty-fourth season, that
occurred the total destruction of the Thagiwi princes of Kosala and
Kapilawot by the ambitious Adzatathat.
Buddha spent the forty-fourth season in the Dzetawon monastery. When the
season was over, he went to dwell in the Weitzagout monastery, near
Radzagio. While he was in that place, there was spread a rumour that
Adzatathat entertained hostile feelings towards Wethalie. Buddha then
foretold that as long as the princes of Wethalie would be united and
avoid internal strife and contention, they would be more than a match
for their enemy; but should quarrel take place among them, they and
their country would fall an easy prey to the invader. These words, which
fell from Buddha's mouth, were not forgotten by a pounha who was one of
Adzatathat's ministers. He planned, with his royal mother's consent and
secret encouragement, the destruction of the rulers of Wethalie, and the
conquest of that country, by contriving to sow the seed of dissension
among the Letziwi princes. His plan met with complete success some years
later, about three years after Gaudama's Neibban, as we shall have the
opportunity of relating.
FOOTNOTES
[1] This short summary of Buddha's life, indicating but little
more than the names of the places where he had spent twenty
seasons, and leaving us in the dark as to all the particulars
regarding the twenty-three other seasons, is another
illustration of the assertion, made in some foregoing passages,
that the present compilation is very concise and imperfect,
supplying us with but an outline of Buddha's proceedings during
the course of his preachings. He reached the age of eighty.
According to the authority of this legend, Buddha lived
forty-five years after he had obtained the Buddhaship. He was
therefore thirty-five when he began his public life and entered
the career of preaching the law. It is not in my power to say
anything positive respecting the antiquity of this work, but the
statement of the main facts is borne out by the united testimony
of the Buddhistic works existing in various parts and in
different languages of Eastern Asia. If it be true that our
Buddha lived so long, we must believe that his time during the
last twenty-five years was employed in the same benevolent
undertaking, viz., to preach the sacred law and point out to
beings the way that shall lead them to the deliverance. Many
volumes are full of the disputes on religious subjects between
Buddha and the heretics, that is to say, his opponents. We may
conclude that those controversies took place during the latter
part of Buddha's life, as it cannot be doubted that they
increased in proportion to the progress the new doctrines made
among the people. If, however, we are in great part kept in the
dark respecting the doings of the great reformer during a long
period of his public life, we are amply compensated by the
account of many interesting circumstances that occurred chiefly
during the last year of his earthly career.
[2] Dewadat, in insisting upon the adoption of regulations of a
more rigid character, intended to imitate, to a certain extent,
the conduct of the mendicants of the opposite party. He aimed at
rivalling them in the practice of austere observances. It does
not appear that he innovated in the dogmas that he had learned
at the school of his great teacher. As his royal pupil,
Adzatathat, had hitherto supported the party of the pounhas, it
is not improbable that Dewadat wished to lessen the differences
between the practices and observances of the two parties, to
render them less perceptible, and by doing so, to prepare the
way, by gradual approximation, for a complete fusion. He
exhibited himself in the character of a rigid reformer, who was
displeased with the too lenient tenor of the disciplinary
regulations instituted by Buddha. Be that as it may, it is
certain that jealousy in the beginning inspired him with the
idea of separating from the assembly. This first step led him
farther than he at first contemplated. He wished to set up an
assembly, or thinga of his own, and thereby to place himself on
a footing of equality and rivalry with his cousin. Meeting with
greater resistance than he expected, and being convinced that he
could not succeed so long as Buddha should be alive, he did not
shrink from making several attempts on his life. It is a fact
worthy of notice that the disturbances which took place
subsequently in the Buddhist society had their origin, in most
instances, in points of discipline of a trivial importance,
which were altered or rejected by a fraction of the assembly,
whilst they were upheld with the utmost tenacity by the greater
portion of the Rahans, as having been established by Gaudama.
This observation will be fully corroborated by the particulars
that we shall relate on the subject of the councils or meetings
held after Gaudama's death.
END OF VOL. I.
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* * * * *
In Two Volumes, post 8vo, cloth, pp. 426 and 460, price 25s.
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ALBERUNI'S INDIA.
AN ACCOUNT OF THE RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE, GEOGRAPHY,
CHRONOLOGY, ASTRONOMY, CUSTOMS, LAWS, AND ASTROLOGY OF INDIA
ABOUT A.D. 1030.
An English Edition, with Notes and Indices.
By DR. EDWARD C. SACHAU,
Professor in the Royal University of Berlin, and Principal of
the Seminary for Oriental Languages; Member of the Royal Academy
of Berlin, and Corresponding Member of the Imperial Academy of
Vienna Honorary Member of the Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland, London, and of the American Oriental Society,
Cambridge, U.S.A.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.
Alberuni, or, as his compatriots called him, Abu Raihan, was born A.D.
973, in the territory of modern Khiva, then called Khwarizm, or
Chorasmia in antiquity. Early distinguishing himself in science and
literature, he played a political part as councillor of the ruling
prince of his native country of the Ma'muni family.
In the opening of his book Alberuni gives an account of the
circumstances which suggested to him the idea of writing the [Greek:
Indika]. Once the conversation with a friend of his, else unknown, ran
on the then existing literature on the history of religion and
philosophy, its merits and demerits. When, in particular, the literature
on the belief of the Hindus came to be criticised, Alberuni maintained
that all of it was second-hand and thoroughly uncritical. To verify the
matter, his friend once more examines the books in question, which
results in his agreeing with our author, and his asking him to fill up
this gap in the Arabic literature of the time. The book he has produced
is not a polemical one. He will not convert the Hindus, nor lend a
direct help to missionary zealots. He will simply describe Hinduism,
without identifying himself with it. He takes care to inform the reader
that he is not responsible for whatsoever repugnant detail he has to
relate, but the Hindus themselves. He gives a repertory of information
on Indian subjects, destined for the use of those who lived in peaceable
intercourse with them, and wished to have an insight into their mode and
world of thought.
The author has nothing in common with the Muhammadan Ghazi who wanted
to convert the Hindus or to kill them, and his book scarcely reminds the
reader of the incessant war between Islam and India, during which it had
been prepared, and by which the possibility of writing such a book had
first been given. It is like a magic island of quiet, impartial research
in the midst of a world of clashing swords, burning towns, and plundered
temples. The object which the author had in view, and never for a moment
lost sight of, was to afford the necessary information and training to
"_any one_ (in Islam) _who wants to converse with the Hindus, and to
discuss with them questions of religion, science, or literature, on the
very basis of their own civilisation_."
In general, it is the method of our author not to speak himself, but to
let the Hindus speak, giving extensive quotations from their classical
authors. He presents a picture of Indian civilisation as painted by the
Hindus themselves. Many chapters, not all, open with a short
characteristic introduction of a general nature. The body of most
chapters consists of three parts. The first is a _precis_ of the
question, as the author understands it.
The second part brings forward the doctrines of the Hindus, quotations
from Sanskrit books in the chapters on religion, philosophy, astronomy,
and astrology, and other kinds of information which had been
communicated to him by word of mouth, or things which he had himself
observed in the chapters on literature, historic chronology, geography,
law, manners, and customs. In the third part he does the same as
Megasthenes had already done; he tries to bring the sometimes very
exotic subject nearer to the understanding of his readers by comparing
it with the theories of ancient Greece, and by other comparisons. In the
disposition of every single chapter, as well as in the sequence of the
chapters, a perspicuous, well-considered plan is apparent. There is no
patchwork nor anything superfluous, and the words fit to the subject as
close as possible.
He does not blindly accept the traditions of former ages; he wants to
understand and to criticise them. He wants to sift the wheat from the
chaff, and he will discard everything that militates against the laws of
nature and of reason.
He criticises manuscript tradition like a modern philologist. He
sometimes supposes the text to be corrupt, and inquires into the cause
of the corruption; he discusses various readings, and proposes
emendations. He guesses at _lacunae_, criticises different translations,
and complains of the carelessness and ignorance of the copyists.
This valuable and interesting work has been out of print for
many years, and second-hand copies have been very difficult to
obtain even at a high premium. At the urgent request of many
scholars and students both in England and India, the publishers
have decided to issue the present reprint at a cheaper price
than the original edition.
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. viii. and 270, cloth, price 6s.
INDIAN POETRY:
CONTAINING "THE INDIAN SONG OF SONGS."
From the Sanskrit of the "Gita Govinda" of Jayadeva; Two Books
from "The Iliad of India" (Mah[.a]bharata), "Proverbial Wisdom"
from the Shlokas of the Hitopadesa, and other Oriental Poems.
By SIR EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., K.C.I.E., C.S.I., &c., &c.
CONTENTS.
The Indian Song of Songs--
Introduction.
Hymn to Vishnu.
Sarga the First--The Sports of Krishna.
Sarga the Second--The Penitence of Krishna.
Sarga the Third--Krishna Troubled.
Sarga the Fourth--Krishna Cheered.
Sarga the Fifth--The Longings of Krishna.
Sarga the Sixth--Krishna made Bolder.
Sarga the Seventh--Krishna supposed False.
Sarga the Eighth--The Rebuking of Krishna.
Sarga the Ninth--The End of Krishna's Trial.
Sarga the Tenth--Krishna in Paradise.
Sarga the Eleventh--The Union of Radha and Krishna.
Miscellaneous Oriental Poems--
The Rajpoot Wife.
King Saladin.
The Caliph's Draught.
Hindoo Funeral Song.
Song of the Serpent Charmers.
Song of the Flour-Mill.
Taza ba Taza.
The Mussulman Paradise.
Dedication of a Poem from the Sanskrit.
The Rajah's Ride.
Two Books from "The Iliad of India."
The Great Journey.
The Entry into Heaven.
The Night of Slaughter.
The Morning Prayer.
Proverbial Wisdom from the Shlokas of the Hitopadesa.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
"In this new volume Sir Edwin Arnold does good service by illustrating,
through the medium of his musical English melodies, the power of Indian
poetry to stir European emotions. 'The Indian Song of Songs' is not
unknown to scholars. Sir Edwin Arnold will have introduced it among
popular English poems."--_Times._
"Complete mastery of the English language, combined with genuine poetic
fervour, has enabled the translator of 'The Indian Song of Songs' to
spread before his readers a feast of dulcet sounds and lyrical language.
Music seems to flow from his pen as naturally as rain from the cloud or
song from the throat of the thrush."--_Morning Post._
"The poem abounds with imagery of Eastern luxuriousness and
sensuousness; the air seems laden with the spicy odours of the tropics,
and the verse has a richness and a melody sufficient to captivate the
senses of the dullest."--_Standard._
* * * * *
Third Edition. Post 8vo, pp. viii.-464, cloth, price 16s.
THE S[=A]NKHYA APHORISMS OF KAPILA,
With Illustrative Extracts from the Commentaries.
Translated by J. R. BALLANTYNE, LL.D., late Principal of the
Benares College.
Edited by FITZEDWARD HALL.
"The work displays a vast expenditure of labour and scholarship, for
which students of Hindoo philosophy have every reason to be grateful to
Dr. Hall and the publishers."--_Calcutta Review._
* * * * *
Fourth Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xxiv.-310, price 16s.
THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA.
BY A. BARTH,
Member of the Societe Asiatique of Paris.
Authorised translation by Rev. J. Wood, Edin.
India has not only preserved for us in her Vedas the most ancient and
complete documents for the study of the old religious beliefs founded on
nature-worship, which, in an extremely remote past, were common to all
the branches of the Indo-European family; she is also the only country
where these beliefs, in spite of many changes both in form and fortune,
continue to subsist up to the present time. Whilst everywhere else they
have been either as good as extinguished by monotheistic religions of
foreign origin, in some instances without leaving behind them a single
direct and authentic trace of their presence, or abruptly cut short in
their evolution and forced to survive within the barriers, henceforth
immovable, of a petty Church, as in the case of Parseeism,--in India
alone they present up to this time, as a rich and varied literature
attests, a continuous, self-determined development, in the course of
which, instead of contracting, they have continued to enlarge their
borders. It is owing in a great measure to this extraordinary longevity
that such an interest attaches to the separate and independent study of
the Hindu religions, irrespective altogether of the estimate we may form
of their dogmatic or practical worth. Nowhere else do we meet with
circumstances, on the whole, so favourable for the study of the
successive transformations and destiny, so to speak, of a polytheistic
idea of the universe.
* * * * *
Post 8vo, cloth. pp. cviii.-242 and viii.-370. Two volumes,
price 24s.
SI-YU-KI.
BUDDHIST RECORDS OF THE WESTERN WORLD.
Translated from the Chinese of HUIEN TSIANG (A.D. 629). By
SAMUEL BEAL, B.A. (Trin. Col., Camb.), R.N. (Retired Chaplain
and N.I.), Professor of Chinese, University College, London;
Rector of Wark, Northumberland, &c.
The progress which has been made in our knowledge of Northern Buddhism
during the last few years is due very considerably to the discovery of
the Buddhist literature of China. This literature (now well known to us
through the catalogues already published) contains, amongst other
valuable works, the records of the travels of various Chinese Buddhist
pilgrims who visited India during the early centuries of our era. These
records embody the testimony of independent eyewitnesses as to the facts
related in them, and having been faithfully preserved and allotted a
place in the collection of the sacred book of the country, their
evidence is entirely trustworthy.
It would be impossible to mention _seriatim_ the various points of
interest in these works, as they refer to the geography, history,
manners, and religion of the people of India. The reader who looks into
the pages of this book will find ample material for study on all these
questions. But there is one particular that gives a more than usual
interest to the records under notice, and that is the evident sincerity
and enthusiasm of the travellers themselves. Never did more devoted
pilgrims leave their native country to encounter the perils of travel in
foreign and distant lands; never did disciples more ardently desire to
gaze on the sacred vestiges of their religion; never did men endure
greater sufferings by desert, mountain, and sea than these
simple-minded, earnest Buddhist priests. And that such courage,
religious devotion, and power of endurance should be exhibited by men so
sluggish, as we think, in their very nature as the Chinese, this is very
surprising, and may perhaps arouse some consideration.
* * * * *
In Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. xii.-336 and x.-352, cloth, price
21s.
MEDIAEVAL RESEARCHES FROM EASTERN ASIATIC SOURCES.
FRAGMENTS TOWARDS THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF
CENTRAL AND WESTERN ASIA FROM THE THIRTEENTH TO THE SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY.
BY E. BRETSCHNEIDER, M.D.,
Formerly Physician of the Russian Legation at Pekin.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE
The subjects dealt with in the two volumes form a carefully revised and
improved edition of three essays gathered into one collection, viz.:--
1. Notes on Chinese Mediaeval Travellers to the West, 1875.
2. Notices of the Mediaeval Geography and History of Central and
Western Asia, 1876.
3. Chinese Intercourse with the Countries of Central and Western
Asia during the Fifteenth Century, 1877.
Since the first publication of these papers, large additions have been
made to the stock of our knowledge regarding the regions of Central
Asia which, previously to the Russian occupation of these tracts, had
been inaccessible to scientific exploration. Thus new light has been
thrown upon many interesting geographical questions suggested by
the narratives of mediaeval travellers, or hitherto based only upon
more modern but vague and dubious Chinese accounts.
To bring the new edition of those former researches up to the
present advanced state of knowledge on the subject, I had to study
a vast amount of literature, written for the greater part in Russian,
which has come to light, on Central Asia, and was obliged to read
through a great number of works and papers, some of them published
in Russian Turkestan, and, therefore, difficult to obtain. In general,
all reading accessible to me bearing on the subject has been made use
of for the elucidation of mediaeval geographical questions arising out
of my researches.
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. xii.-164, cloth, price 10s. 6d.
THE HISTORY OF ESARHADDON
(Son of Sennacherib),
KING OF ASSYRIA, B.C. 681-668.
Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cylinders and
Tablets in the British Museum Collection; together with a
Grammatical Analysis of each Word, Explanations of the
Ideographs by Extracts from the Bi-Lingual Syllabaries, and List
of Eponyms, &c.
BY E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, M.A., Litt.D., D.Lit.,
Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British
Museum.
"Students of scriptural archaeology will also appreciate the 'History of
Esarhaddon.'"--_Times._
"There is much to attract the scholar in this volume. It does not
pretend to popularise studies which are yet in their infancy. Its
primary object is to translate, but it does not assume to be more than
tentative, and it offers both to the professed Assyriologist and to the
ordinary non-Assyriological Semitic scholar the means of controlling its
results."--_Academy._
"Mr. Budge's book is, of course, mainly addressed to Assyrian scholars
and students. They are not, it is to be feared, a very numerous class.
But the more thanks are due to him on that account for the way in which
he has acquitted himself in his laborious task."--_Tablet._
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. xlviii.-398, cloth, price 12s.
THE ORDINANCES OF MANU.
Translated from the Sanskrit, with an Introduction.
By the late A. C. BURNELL, Ph.D., C.I.E.
Completed and Edited by E. W. HOPKINS, Ph.D., of Columbia
College, N.Y.
"This work is full of interest; while for the student of sociology and
the science of religion it is full of importance. It is a great boon to
get so notable a work in so accessible a form, admirably edited, and
completely translated."--_Scotsman._
"Few men were more competent than Burnell to give us a really good
translation of this well-known law book, first rendered into English by
Sir William Jones. Burnell was not only an independent Sanskrit scholar,
but an experienced lawyer, and he joined to these two important
qualifications the rare faculty of being able to express his thoughts in
clear and trenchant English.... We ought to feel very grateful to Dr.
Hopkins for having given us all that could be published of the
translation left by Burnell."--F. MAX MUeLLER in the _Academy_.
* * * * *
Third Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. vi.-216, price 6s.
THE BHAGAVAD G[=I]T[=A]; or, THE SACRED LAY.
A SANSKRIT PHILOSOPHICAL POEM.
Translated, with Notes,
BY JOHN DAVIES, M.A. (Cantab.)
Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, of the Cambridge
Philological Society, &c., and (sometime) Rector of Walsoken,
Norfolk.
I. Introduction.
II. Translation.
III. Appendix.
(i) On the date at which the Bhagavad G[=i]t[=a] was probably
written, and on the theory that it was written under an
influence derived from a knowledge of Christian doctrines.
(ii) The traditional line of descent of the Lunar Dynasty.
(iii) Collation of two MSS. with the Bonn edition of the
Bhagavad G[=i]t[=a], and the readings of other editions
and MSS.
In preparing this translation of the Bhagavad G[=i]t[=a], the author had
before him the Greek translation of Galanos, and the Italian version of
Stanislao Gatti, both supplied by Dr. Reinhold Rost. The author also
consulted the French version of Burnouf, the Latin version of Lassen,
and the English versions of Mr. Thomson and K. T. Telang. The notes of
Lassen have given valuable aid, as well as a paper on the Bhagavad
G[=i]t[=a], read before the "Akademie der Weissenschaften" of Berlin in
1826 by W. van Humboldt, which contained a scholarly review of the
doctrines contained in the poem. The author has also consulted a MS.
copy of the Commentary on the Bhagavad G[=i]t[=a], written by
['S]r[=i]dhara, and, by the kindness of Dr. Rost, another commentary,
attributed to ['S]ankara, but written by ['S]ankara Ananda Saraswati
(quot. at Ananda), and called T[=a]tparya Bodhin[=i].
* * * * *
Second Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. viii.-152, price 6s.
HINDU PHILOSOPHY.
THE S[=A]NKHYA K[=A]RIK[=A] OF [=I]['S]WARA KRISHNA.
An Exposition of the System of Kapila, with an Appendix on the
Ny[=a]ya and Vai['s]eshika Systems.
BY JOHN DAVIES, M.A. (Cantab.)
Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, of the Cambridge
Philological Society, &c., and (sometime) Rector of Walsoken,
Norfolk.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.
I wish to present to my readers the philosophy of Kapila as it has been
set forth by his Indian exponent, [=I]['s]wara Krishna. The system of
Kapila, called the S[=a]nkhya or Rationalistic, in its original form,
and in its theistic development by Patarijali, contains nearly all that
India has produced in the department of pure philosophy. Other systems,
though classed as philosophic, are mainly devoted to logic and physical
science, or to an exposition of the Vedas.
The system of Kapila may be said to have only an historical value, but
on this account alone it is interesting as a chapter in the history of
the human mind. It is the earliest attempt on record to give an answer,
from reason alone, to the mysterious questions which arise in every
thoughtful mind about the origin of the world, the nature and relations
of man, and his future destiny. It is interesting also and instructive
to note how often the human mind moves in a circle. The latest German
philosophy, the system of Schopenhauer and Von Hartmann, is mainly a
reproduction of the philosophic system of Kapila in its materialistic
part, presented in a more elaborate form, but on the same fundamental
lines. In this respect the human intellect has gone over the same ground
that it occupied more than two thousand years ago, but on a more
important question it has taken a step in retreat. Kapila recognised
fully the existence of a soul in man, forming indeed his proper
nature--the absolute ego of Fichte--distinct from matter and immortal;
but our latest philosophy, both here and in Germany, can see in man only
a highly developed physical organisation. "All external things," says
Kapila, "were formed that the soul might know itself and be free." "The
study of psychology is vain," says Schopenhauer, "for there is no
Psyche."
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. 432, cloth, price 16s.
A CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF HINDU MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION,
GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND LITERATURE.
BY JOHN DOWSON, M.R.A.S.,
Late Professor of Hindustani, Staff College.
"This not only forms an indispensable book of reference to students of
Indian literature, but is also of great general interest, as it gives in
a concise and easily accessible form all that need be known about the
personages of Hindu mythology whose names are so familiar, but of whom
so little is known outside the limited circle of _savants_."--_Times._
"It is no slight gain when such subjects are treated fairly and fully in
a moderate space; and we need only add that the few wants which we may
hope to see supplied in new editions detract but little from the general
excellence of Mr. Dowson's work."--_Saturday Review._
* * * * *
Revised Edition in Two Volumes, post 8vo, pp. xxx.-390;
xiv.-364, cloth, price 21s.
A HISTORY OF CIVILISATION IN ANCIENT INDIA.
BASED ON SANSKRIT LITERATURE,
BY ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT, C.I.E.
Of the Indian Civil Service, and of the Middle Temple,
Barrister-at-Law, Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, and of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
VOL. I.--B.C. 2000 TO 320; VOL. II.--B.C. 320--A.D. 1000.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.
The method on which this work has been written is very simple. My
principal object has been to furnish the general reader with a practical
and handy work on the Ancient History of India--not to compose an
elaborate work of discussions on Indian Antiquities. To study clearness
and conciseness on a subject like this was not, however, an easy task.
Every chapter in the present work deals with matters about which long
researches have been made, and various opinions have been recorded. It
would have afforded some satisfaction to me to have given the reader the
history of every controversy, the account of every antiquarian
discovery, and the pros and cons of every opinion advanced. But I could
not yield to this temptation without increasing the work to three or
four times its present humble size, and thus sacrificing the very object
with which it is written. To carry out my primary object I have avoided
every needless discussion, and I have tried to explain as clearly,
concisely, and distinctly as I was able each succeeding phase of Hindu
civilisation and Hindu life in ancient times.
But, while conciseness has been the main object of the present work, I
have also endeavoured to tell my story so that it may leave some
distinct memories on my readers after they have closed the work. For
this reason, I have avoided details as far as possible, and tried to
develop, fully and clearly, the leading facts and features of each
succeeding age. Repetition has not been avoided where such repetition
seemed necessary to impress on my readers the cardinal facts--the
salient features of the story of Hindu civilisation.
"Mr. Dutt has attempted to popularise learned researches, and
has undertaken a patriotic work, and in many respects none could
he better prepared for the task than he.... As far as possible
he allows the original texts to speak for themselves; his book
is thus filled with extracts selected and translated with care;
and the extracts are connected together by analyses and resumes
in which we always find what is necessary, and seldom what is
superfluous. He has written with enthusiasm, in a language clear
and correct, and without that needless display of erudition
which tires more than it instructs. On the whole I know of
no work which enables one better to enter into the spirit
of ancient Indian thought, or which is more fascinating
reading."--M. BARTH, _in Revue Critique, Paris_. (Translated.)
* * * * *
In One Volume, post 8vo, cloth, pp. xvi.-224, price 7s. 6d.
LAYS OF ANCIENT INDIA.
Selections from Indian Poetry rendered into English Verse.
BY ROMESH CHUNDER DUTT, C.I.E.
Barrister-at-Law, and of the Indian Civil Service; Member of the
Royal Asiatic Society, and of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Author of "A History of Civilisation in Ancient India," &c.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.
The time has come for placing before English readers a carefully
prepared book of selections from the entire range of Ancient Indian
Poetry. Such a book of selections should convey something not only of
the beauty of Indian poetry in general, but also of the distinctive
features of the poetry of each special period--something of the
freshness and simplicity of the Vedic Hymns, the sublime and lofty
thought of the Upanishads, the unsurpassed beauty of Buddhist precepts,
and the incomparable richness and imagery of the later or classical
Sanscrit poetry. And it seems to me that such a book, comprising
specimens from the literature of successive periods, is likely to give
the English reader a general bird's-eye view of Indian poetry, Indian
thought, and Indian religion.
* * * * *
Revised Edition. Post 8vo, pp. 276, cloth, price 7s. 6d.
RELIGION IN CHINA.
BY JOSEPH EDKINS, D.D., PEKING.
Containing a Brief Account of the Three Religions of the
Chinese, with Observations on the Prospects of Christian
Conversion amongst that People.
"Dr. Edkins has been most careful in noting the varied and often complex
phases of opinion, so as to give an account of considerable value of the
subject."--_Scotsman._
"As a missionary, it has been part of Dr. Edkins' duty to study the
existing religions in China, and his long residence in the country has
enabled him to acquire an intimate knowledge of them as they at present
exist."--_Saturday Review._
"Dr. Edkins' valuable work, of which this is a second and revised
edition, has, from the time that it was published, been the standard
authority upon the subject of which it treats."--_Nonconformist._
"Dr. Edkins ... may now be fairly regarded as among the first
authorities on Chinese religion and language."--_British Quarterly
Review._
* * * * *
New and Revised Edition. Post 8vo, pp. xxiv.-420, cloth, price
18s.
CHINESE BUDDHISM.
A VOLUME OF SKETCHES, HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL.
BY J. EDKINS, D.D.
Author of "China's Place in Philology," "Religion in China,"
&c., &c.
"It contains a vast deal of important information on the subject,
such as is only to be gained by long-continued study on the
spot."--_Athenaeum._
"Upon the whole, we know of no work comparable to it for the extent of
its original research, and the simplicity with which this complicated
system of philosophy, religion, literature, and ritual is set
forth."--_British Quarterly Review._
"The whole volume is replete with learning.... It deserves most careful
study from all interested in the history of the religions of the world,
and expressly of those who are concerned in the propagation of
Christianity. Dr. Edkins notices in terms of just condemnation the
exaggerated praise bestowed upon Buddhism by recent English
writers."--_Record._
* * * * *
Third Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xxiv.-268, price 9s.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE UPANISHADS AND ANCIENT INDIAN METAPHYSICS.
As exhibited in a series of Articles contributed to the
_Calcutta Review_.
BY ARCHIBALD EDWARD GOUGH, M.A., Lincoln College, Oxford;
Principal of the Calcutta Madrasa.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.
Those interested in the general history of philosophy will find in it an
account of a very early attempt, on the part of thinkers of a rude age
and race, to form a cosmological theory. The real movement of
philosophic thought begins, it is true, not in India, but in Ionia; but
some degree of interest may still be expected to attach to the procedure
of the ancient Indian cosmologists. The Upanishads are so many 'songs
before sunrise'--spontaneous effusions of awakening reflection, half
poetical, half metaphysical--that precede the conscious and methodical
labour of the long succession of thinkers to construct a thoroughly
intelligible conception of the sum of things. For the general reader,
then, these pages may supply in detail, and in the terms of the Sanskrit
texts themselves, a treatment of the topics slightly sketched in the
third chapter of Archer Butler's first series of 'Lectures on the
History of Ancient Philosophy.' The Upanishads exhibit the prehistoric
view of things in a na[=i]vely poetical expression, and, at the same
time, in its coarsest form. Any translations will be found to include
the whole of the Mu[n.][d.]aka, Ka[t.]ha, ['S]vet[=a]['s]vatara, and
M[=a][n.][d.][=u]kya Upanishads, the greater part of the Taittir[=i]ya
and B[r.]ihad[=a]ro[n.]yaka, and portions of the Chh[=a]ndogya and Kena,
together with extracts from the works of the Indian schoolmen.
* * * * *
Third Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xvi.-428, price 16s.
ESSAYS ON THE SACRED LANGUAGE, WRITINGS, AND RELIGION OF THE
PARSIS.
By MARTIN HAUG, Ph.D.,
Late of the Universities of Tuebingen, Goettingen, and Bonn;
Superintendent of Sanskrit Studies, and Professor of Sanskrit
in the Poona College.
EDITED AND ENLARGED BY DR. E. W. WEST.
To which is added a Biographical Memoir of the late Dr. HAUG by
Prof. E. P. EVANS.
I. History of the Researches into the Sacred Writings and Religion
of the Parsis, from the Earliest Times down to the Present.
II. Languages of the Parsi Scriptures.
III. The Zend-Avesta, or the Scripture of the Parsis.
IV. The Zoroastrian Religion, as to its Origin and Development.
"'Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsis,'
by the late Dr. Martin Haug, edited by Dr. E. W. West. The author
intended, on his return from India, to expand the materials contained in
this work into a comprehensive account of the Zoroastrian religion, but
the design was frustrated by his untimely death. We have, however, in a
concise and readable form, a history of the researches into the sacred
writings and religion of the Parsis from the earliest times down to the
present--a dissertation on the languages of the Parsi Scriptures, a
translation of the Zend-Avesta, or the Scripture of the Parsis, and a
dissertation on the Zoroastrian religion, with especial reference to its
origin and development."--_Times._
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. viii. and 346, cloth, price 10s. 6d.
MANAVA-DHARMA-CASTRA:
THE CODE OF MANU.
ORIGINAL SANSKRIT TEXT, WITH CRITICAL NOTES.
BY J. JOLLY, PH.D.,
Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Wurzburg; late Tagore
Professor of Law in the University of Calcutta.
The date assigned by Sir William Jones to this Code--the well-known
Great Law Book of the Hindus--is 1250-500 B.C., although the rules and
precepts contained in it had probably existed as tradition for countless
ages before. There has been no reliable edition of the Text for Students
for many years past, and it is believed, therefore, that Prof. Jolly's
work will supply a want long felt.
* * * * *
Second Edition. Post 8vo, pp. xii.-512, cloth, price 16s.
FOLK-TALES OF KASHMIR.
BY THE REV. J. HINTON KNOWLES, F.R.G.S., M.R.A.S., &c.
(C.M.S.) Missionary to the Kashmirs.
EXTRACT FROM PREFACE.
Kashmir as a field of folk-lore literature is, perhaps, not surpassed in
fertility by any other country in the world; and yet, while every year
witnesses the publication of books on the subject from Bengal, Bombay,
Madras, Porjab, and other parts, this field, ripe for the harvest, has
remained almost ungleaned. No doubt its isolated position and the
difficulty of its language have had something to do with this apparent
neglect.
No apology will be needed for the presentation of this book to the
public. The great interest and importance attaching to the folk-tales of
any people is manifest from the great attention devoted to them by many
learned writers and others. Concerning the style and manner of the book,
however, I would ask my readers to be lenient with me. I have sought not
so much to present these tales in a purely literary form as to give them
in a fair translation, and most of the work was done by lamp-light after
an ordinary amount of missionary work during the day. However, such as
it is, I sincerely hope it will prove a real contribution towards that
increasing stock of folk-lore which is doing so much to clear away the
clouds that envelop much of the practices, ideas, and beliefs which make
up the daily life of the natives of our great dependencies, control
their feelings, and underlie many of their actions.
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. ix.-281, cloth, price 10s. 6d.
THE SARVA-DARSANA-SAMGRAHA;
OR, REVIEW OF THE DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OF HINDU PHILOSOPHY.
BY MADHAVA ACHARYA.
Translated by E. B. COWELL, M.A., Professor of Sanskrit in the
University of Cambridge, and A. E. GOUGH, M.A., Professor of
Philosophy in the Presidency College, Calcutta.
This work is an interesting specimen of Hindu critical ability.
The author successively passes in review the sixteen
philosophical systems current in the fourteenth century in the
South of India; and he gives what appears to him to be their
most important tenets.
"The translation is trustworthy throughout. A protracted sojourn in
India, where there is a living tradition, has familiarised the
translators with Indian thought."--_Athenaeum._
* * * * *
Five Volumes, post 8vo, cloth, price 21s. each.
ORIGINAL SANSKRIT TEXTS
_On the Origin and History of the People of India: Their
Religion and Institutions._
Collected, Translated, and Illustrated.
BY J. MUIR, C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D., PH.D.
Third Edition, Re-written, and greatly Enlarged.
Vol. I.--Mythical and Legendary Accounts of the Origin of Caste, with
an Inquiry into its Existence in the Vedic Age.
Vol. II.--Inquiry whether the Hindus are of Trans-Himalayan Origin,
and akin to the Western Branches of the Indo-European Race.
Vol. III.--The Vedas: Opinions of their Authors and of later Indian
Writers on their Origin, Inspiration, and Authority. (Out of print.)
Vol. IV.--Comparison of the Vedic with the later representations of the
principal Indian Deities.
Vol. V.--Contributions to a knowledge of the Cosmogony, Mythology,
Religious Ideas, Life, and Manners of the Indians in the Vedic Age.
* * * * *
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METRICAL TRANSLATIONS FROM SANSKRIT WRITERS.
With an Introduction, many Prose Versions, and Parallel Passages
from Classical Authors.
BY J. MUIR, C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D., PH.D.
"... An agreeable introduction to Hindu poetry."--_Times._
"... A volume which maybe taken as a fair illustration alike of the
religious and moral sentiments and of the legendary lore of the best
Sanskrit writers."--_Edinburgh Daily Review._
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. lxv.-368, cloth, price 14s.
TIBETAN TALES DERIVED FROM INDIAN SOURCES.
Translated from the Tibetan of the KAH-GYUR.
BY F. ANTON VON SCHIEFNER.
Done into English from the German, with an Introduction,
BY W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A.
"Mr. Ralston, whose name is so familiar to all lovers of Russian
folk-lore, has supplied some interesting Western analogies and
parallels, drawn, for the most part, from Slavonic sources, to the
Eastern folk-tales, culled from the Kahgyur, one of the divisions
of the Tibetan sacred books."--_Academy._
"The translation ... could scarcely have fallen into better hands. An
Introduction ... gives the leading facts in the lives of those scholars
who have given their attention to gaining a knowledge of the Tibetan
literature and language."--_Calcutta Review._
"Ought to interest all who care for the East, for amusing stories, or
for comparative folk-lore."--_Pall Mall Gazette._
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. xvi.-224, cloth, price 9s.
UDANAVARGA.
A COLLECTION OF VERSES FROM THE BUDDHIST CANON.
Compiled by DHARMATRATA.
BEING THE NORTHERN BUDDHIST VERSION OF DHAMMAPADA.
Translated from the Tibetan of Bkah-hgyur, with Notes, and
Extracts from the Commentary of Pradjnavarman,
BY W. WOODVILLE ROCKHILL.
"Mr. Rockhill's present work is the first from which assistance will be
gained for a more accurate understanding of the Pali text; it is, in
fact, as yet the only term of comparison available to us. The
'Udauavarga,' the Thibetan version, was originally discovered by the
late M. Schiefner, who published the Tibetan text, and had intended
adding a translation, an intention frustrated by his death, but which
has been carried out by Mr. Rockhill.... Mr. Rockhill may be
congratulated for having well accomplished a difficult task."--_Saturday
Review._
* * * * *
Fifth Edition. Post 8vo, pp. xv.-250, cloth, price 7s. 6d.
OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF RELIGION TO THE SPREAD OF THE
UNIVERSAL RELIGIONS.
BY C. P. TIELE,
Doctor of Theology, Professor of the History of Religions in the
University of Leyden.
Translated from the Dutch by J. ESTLIN CARPENTER, M.A.
"Few books of its size contain the result of so much wide thinking, able
and laborious study, or enable the reader to gain a better bird's-eye
view of the latest results of investigations into the religious history
of nations. As Professor Tiele modestly says, 'In this little book are
outlines--pencil sketches, I might say--nothing more.' But there are
some men whose sketches from a thumb-nail are of far more worth than an
enormous canvas covered with the crude painting of others, and it is
easy to see that these pages, full of information, these sentences, cut
and perhaps also dry, short and clear, condense the fruits of long and
thorough research."--_Scotsman._
* * * * *
Four Volumes Ready. Volume V. in the Press. Post 8vo, cloth,
price 10s. 6d. each.
THE SHAHNAMA OF FIRDAUSI.
Done into English by
ARTHUR GEORGE WARNER, M.A., AND EDMOND WARNER, B.A.
February 25th of the present year (1910) is the nine hundredth
anniversary of the completion of the Shahnama. Its author, the Persian
poet Firdausi, spent over thirty laborious years in its composition,
only to experience, when the task had been achieved, a heart-breaking
disappointment well worthy of inclusion in any record of the calamities
of authors. His work has survived the test of time, and by general
consent is accounted to be one of the few great epics of the world.
Geographically and in some other respects it may be said to stand
half-way between the Epics of Europe and those of India. In its own land
it has no peer, while in construction and subject-matter it is unique.
Other Epics centre round some heroic character or incident to which all
else is subservient. In the Shahnama there is no lack either of heroes
or of incidents, but its real hero is the ancient Persian people, and
its theme their whole surviving legendary history from the days of the
First Man to the death of the last Shah in the middle of the seventeenth
century of our Era. It is the glory of the Persian race that they alone
among all nations possess such a record, based as it is on their own
traditions and set forth in the words of their greatest poet. In another
sense, too, the Shahnama is unique. The author of the other great Epics
tell us little or nothing of their own personalities or of their sources
of information. Their works are fairy palaces suspended in mid air; we
see the result, but know not how it was achieved. The author of the
Shahnama takes us into his confidence from the first, so that in reading
it we are let into the secret of epic-making, and can apply the
knowledge thus gained to solve the problem of the construction of its
great congeners. To the student of comparative mythology and folk-lore,
to the lover of historic romance or romantic history, and to all that
are fond of tales of high achievements and the gests of heroes, the
Shahnama is a storehouse of rich and abundant material. To set forth a
complete presentment of it with the needful notes and elucidations is
the object of the present translation, made from two of the best printed
texts of the original--that of Vullers and Landauer, and that of Turner
Macan.
* * * * *
Third Edition. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xxiv.-360, price 10s. 6d.
THE HISTORY OF INDIAN LITERATURE.
BY ALBRECHT WEBER.
Translated from the Second German Edition by JOHN MANN, M.A.,
and THEODOR ZACHARIAE, Ph.D., with the sanction of the Author.
Dr. BUHLER, Inspector of Schools in India, writes:--"When I was
Professor of Oriental Languages in Elphinstone College, I frequently
felt the want of such a work to which I could refer the students."
Professor COWELL, of Cambridge, writes:--"It will be especially useful
to the students in our Indian colleges and universities. I used to long
for such a book when I was teaching in Calcutta. Hindu students are
intensely interested in the history of Sanskrit literature, and this
volume will supply them with all they want on the subject."
Professor WHITNEY, Yale College, Newhaven, Conn., U.S.A., writes:--"I
was one of the class to whom the work was originally given in the form
of academic lectures. At their first appearance they were by far the
most learned and able treatment of their subject; and with their recent
additions they still maintain decidedly the same rank."
"Is perhaps the most comprehensive and lucid survey of Sanskrit
literature extant. The essays contained in the volume were originally
delivered as academic lectures, and at the time of their first
publication were acknowledged to be by far the most learned and
able treatment of the subject. They have now been brought up to
date by the addition of all the most important results of recent
research."--_Times._
* * * * *
Second Edition. Post 8vo, pp. xxxii. and 330, cloth, price 7s.
6d.
MASNAVI I MA'NAVI:
THE SPIRITUAL COUPLETS OF MAULANA JALALU-'D-DIN MUHAMMAD I
RU'MI.
Translated and Abridged by E. H. WHINFIELD, M.A.,
Late of H.M. Bengal Civil Service.
EXTRACT FROM AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
This is the book of the Masnavi. It contains the roots of the roots of
the roots of the Faith, and treats of the mysteries of "Union" and
"Certitude." Thus saith the feeble slave, in need of the mercy of God,
whose name be praised, Muhammad, son of Muhammad, son of Husain, of
Balkh, of whom may God accept it,--"I have exerted myself to enlarge
this book of poetry in rhymed couplets, which contains strange and rare
narratives, beautiful sayings and recondite indications; a path for the
devout, and a garden for the pious; short in its expressions, but having
numerous applications." The author goes on to state that he wrote his
book at the instance of Shaikh Hasan, son of Muhammad, "a Chief of the
Gnostics (_'Arif[=i]n_) and a leader of right direction and of sure
knowledge;" and concludes with a prayer that it may prove "a blessing to
those who are possessed of insight, the godly, the spiritual, and the
heavenly-minded, the men of light who keep silence and observe, who are
absent in spirit though present in the body, very kings though clothed
in rags, true nobles among the people, endued with virtues, the lights
of guidance."
* * * * *
Post 8vo, cloth, pp. xxxii.-336, price 10s. 6d.
THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM.
The Persian Text with an English Verse Translation.
BY E. H. WHINFIELD, M.A.,
Late of the Bengal Civil Service.
EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION.
Ghias uddin Abul Fath Omar bin Ibrahim al Khayyam was a native of
Nishapur, one of the principal cities of Khorasan. According to the
Preface of the Calcutta MS., he died in 517 A.D., during the reign of
Sultan Sarjar. The date of his birth is nowhere mentioned, but he was
contemporary with Nizam ul Mulk, the celebrated Wazir of the Seljuk
kings, Alp Arslan and Malik Shah.
This edition contains the Persian test of 500 quatrains based on
a collation of eight authorities, together with English verse
translations.
* * * * *
Second Edition, Revised. Post 8vo, cloth, pp. viii.-124, price
5s.
THE QUATRAINS OF OMAR KHAYYAM.
Translated into English verse,
BY E. H. WHINFIELD, M.A.,
Late of the Bengal Civil Service.
This edition contains 267 of the best quatrains in the larger
edition, carefully revised.
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. vi.-368, cloth, price 14s.
MODERN INDIA AND THE INDIANS.
BEING A SERIES OF IMPRESSIONS, NOTES, AND ESSAYS.
BY SIR MONIER WILLIAMS, D.C.L.,
Hon. LL.D. of the University of Calcutta, Hon. Member of the
Bombay Asiatic Society, Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the
University of Oxford.
Fifth Edition, revised and augmented by considerable Additions,
with Illustrations and a Map.
"In this volume we have the thoughtful impressions of a thoughtful man
on some of the most important questions connected with our Indian
Empire.... An enlightened observant man, travelling among an enlightened
observant people, Professor Monier Williams has brought before the
public in a pleasant form more of the manners and customs of the Queen's
Indian subjects than we ever remember to have seen in any one work. He
not only deserves the thanks of every Englishman for this able
contribution to the study of Modern India--a subject with which we
should be specially familiar--but he deserves the thanks of every
Indian, Parsee or Hindu, Buddhist and Moslem, for his clear exposition
of their manners, their creeds, and their necessities."--_Times._
* * * * *
Post 8vo, pp. xii.-72, cloth, price 5s.
THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHARI.
Translated from the Sanskrit
BY THE REV. B. HALE WORTHAM, M.R.A.S.,
Rector of Eggesford, North Devon.
"A very interesting addition to Truebner's Oriental Series."--_Saturday
Review._
"Many of the Maxims in the book have a Biblical ring and beauty of
expression."--_St. James' Gazette._
* * * * *
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
2. Footnotes have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the
end of the chapter.
3. Obvious punctuation errors have been silently corrected.
4. The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version
these letters have been replaced with transliterations.
5. The words coup-d'oeil and Oedipus use an oe ligature in the original.
6. The letters with diacritical marks are enclosed within square braces.
7. Numbers of the form "9-1/2" represent fractional numbers where whole
number 9 is followed by hyphen and the fraction 1/2.
8. The following misprints have been corrected:
"similiar" corrected to "similar" (page x)
"savans" corrected to "savants" (page xiv)
"Rasula" corrected to "Raoula" (page xx)
"ntellectual" corrected to "intellectual" (Ch. I, ftn. 1)
"siting" corrected to "sitting" (page 69)
"amuesment" corrected to "amusement" (page 69)
"Guadama" corrected to "Gaudama" (page 75)
"ocurrence" corrected to "occurrence" (Ch. V, ftn. 1)
"substantinl" corrected to "substantial" (page 81)
"undescribable" corrected to "indescribable" (page 100)
"Pathanadi" corrected to "Pathenadi" (page 107)
"Ooodaka" corrected to "Oodaka" (page 113)
"Rathans" corrected to "Rahans" (Ch. VI, ftn. 2)
"succesively" corrected to "successively" (page 121)
"possesssed" corrected to "possessed" (page 132)
"drunkennness" corrected to "drunkenness" (page 136)
"Tsadoumaritz" corrected to "Tsadoomarit" (page 139)
"Rathan" corrected to "Rahan" (page 142)
"Adzatatha" corrected to "Adzatathat" (Ch. VI, ftn. 13)
"perfect on" corrected to "perfection" (Ch. VII, ftn. 3)
"morever" corrected to "moreover" (page 157)
"eft" corrected to "left" (page 162)
"Buddah" corrected to "Buddha" (Ch. VIII, ftn. 9)
"pracittioners" corrected to "practitioners" (Ch. IX, ftn. 1)
"stockof" corrected to "stock of" (Ch. IX, ftn. 1)
"Patzati" corrected to "Patzapati" (page 208)
9. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies
in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been
retained.