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MAY, 1888.]
BUDDHIST LITERATURE OF CEYLON.
123
is, that its royal author, living at a time when, work in the Sanskțit language, which had with this single exception, the existence of originally belonged to Buddha's own famous Sanskrit books in Ceylon is not mentioned by Jêtavana monastery at Sråvasti." He remained the native authorities, should have chosen this three years at this place studying the Sanskrit language for a book whose practical subject language, reading Sanskrit books, and showe that he wrote it for more or less public copying this great work and other Buddhist use. It affords reason for the conclusion that, books in the same language which he found whether known or unknown to the chroniclers, there. He subsequently spent two years at the Sanskrit language was cultivated in Ceylon Tâmralipti, copying similar books and sketching at this time, and that books written in that Buddhist images, and he then embarked for language were sufficiently well-known there in Ceylon." the 4th century A.D.
It is important to remark here that the very Both recensions of the Mahávansa attribute ancient copy of the Vinaya, which Fa-Hian to this king's reign translations of some unmen- found in the capital of the Magadha countrytioned portions of the sacred books of Bud- the supposed home of the Pali language, "the dhism into the vernacular Sinhalese language." speech of Magadha," and the alleged vernacuThe Upham recension adds that these transla- lar of Buddha's own discourses-was written tions were made from PÂli texts; but the in the Sanskrit language, as were also the Turnour recension and the Rajaratnákari** other Buddhist scriptures which he found there. do not uphold this latter statement; and, if Bud- It is equally clear that such imperfect portions dhaghosha's Pâli texts were the earliest appear of the Vinaya as had reached China before ance of books in that language in Ceylon, that Pa-Hian started on this journey were also statement cannot be accepted. The Rájávali written in that language, * and the books does not mention these translations ; but it which he subsequently copied in Tâmralipti states that this king provided books and and Ceylon were in the same language; all of preachers for the villages in his dominions. which he "edited” op his return home, with
We have now reached a very interesting epoch the assistance of the Chinese Sanskrit scholars in the history of this literature, namely, the of Nankin. All this may not be absolately visits of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim FA-Hian decisive of the question of the original lanand the famous Páli scholar Buddhaghosha. guage of the Buddhist canonical scriptures : Fa-Hian went to Ceylon in A.D. 411 by the but it has considerable importance in the insea-route, from the mouth of the Gauges, and vestigation of that question, especially as no spent two years in the island. He had come equally trustworthy evidence has yet been to India from China by the long land-route to discovered of the existence of any portion of the north of the Himalayas, in order to search the Buddhist canon in the Pali language as for an authentic copy of the Vinaya, one of the early as this period." three great divisions of the Buddhist canonical It is also worth while pausing to remark scriptures;" and although he had visited many that Fa-Hian found the teachers of the Budmonasteries in his route, he had been unsuccess- dhist monasteries of Mongolia, Afghanistan, ful in his search antil, after five years' wander- the Pañjáb, and North-Western India, as far ings, he reached Patalipatra, the modern down as Pataliputra, teaching their pupils the Påtna, the home of the great Asoka and his standard works of their religion by word of missionary son Mahinda, where he found in mouth;" although it was from these same one of its monasteries a venerable copy of that countries that the books which they so taught ** Upham, I. 238 ; Turnout, 1
of Hinen Tsiang; and also Dr. Edkins' Chinese Bud* Upham, II. 129.
Tb. II. 241.
dhism, p. 401 #f. 50 Fa-Hian's Travels, Chap. XXXII. By means of 65 Fa-Hian, chap. XL. these general references to the chapters of Fa Hian's book 56 Tho supposition that Pali books existed in China, the reader will be able to consult any one of the versions which originated in an error of Gatzlaff (Sketch of which may be most convenient to himself.
Chinese History, I. 250, and another work quoted in For Fa-Hian, chap. XXXVI.
tune's Wanderings, P. 186), may now be regarded as 19 Fa-Hian, chap. XXXVI.
exploded. [See Medhurst's China, its State and Pros53 Fa-Hian, chap. XXXVII.
pects, p. 206, and Edkins op. cit. sup. p. 409). It seems 6. For illustrations of Fa-Hian's statements on this also high time to discard the idea that the Pali of the subject, see the Rev. Samuel Beal's Introduction to his Southern Buddhists was at any time the spoken language translations of the works of this Chinese traveller and of Magadbe.
57 Fa-Hian, chap. XXXVI.
