THE DIFFERENT SECTS.

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later supported by Hodgson, who has recently published several engravings of their deities; it is further corroborated by the important fact, that to the exorcists of some of the ruder Himálayan tribes, as the Murmis and Sunvars, the name of "Bonpa" is applied even to the present day.1

The Bodhimör in Ssanang Ssetsen's history, pp. 351, 367. Csoma, "Geographical Notice of Tíbet," in "Journ. As. Soc, Beng.," Vol. I., p. 124; "Dictionary of the Tibetan language," p. 94. B. H. Hodgson, "Notice on Buddhist symbols," in Royal As. Soc., Vol. XVIII., p. 396. The identity of these Bonpa images with those met with in the temples of the orthodox Buddhists (the only difference existing in the name) is a further corroboration of the close alliance (already examined p. 48) of the Buddhist faith with pagan rituals and ideals.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SACRED LITERATURE.

WORKS TRANSLATED FROM SANSKRIT, AND WORKS WRITTEN IN TIBETAN.THE TWO COMPILATIONS KANJUR AND TANJUR.-TIBETAN LITERATURE IN EUROPE. ANALYSIS OF THE MANI KAMBUM.-NAMES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF PADMAPANI.

THE earlier religious books published in Tibetan are simply translations from the Sanskrit, undertaken by Indian priests, Tibetan translators (Lotsavas), and also Chinese. The work of translation was carried on with remarkable zeal and energy; for the sake of uniformity a vocabulary of the Sanskrit proper names, and of the technical and philosophical terms occurring in the original texts, was prepared, and the latter was ordered to be adhered to. But it is to be regretted that the trans

1

The first steps of this undertaking date perhaps from the times of Srongtsan Gampo and Thumi Sambhota. This vocabulary still exists in three editions, varying according to the greater or smaller number of terms contained in them; that of middle size was composed in the time of Ralpachen, or Khiral, who ruled in the ninth century: it is comprised in the Tanjur. Wilson, "Note on the literature of Tibet." Gleanings in science, Vol. III., p. 247. Compare also Hodgson, As. Res., Vol. XVI., p. 434.--For many books the names of the translators have been preserved to us.

TRANSLATIONS FROM SANSKRIT.

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lators, instead of supplying us with correct versions, have interwoven them with their own commentaries, for the purpose of justifying the dogmas of their several schools. To these alterations of the genuine text is chiefly owing the obscurity that has so long shrouded the subject and prevented a clear understanding of the principles of the original Buddhism and its subsequent divisions.

Simultaneously with the formation of a Tibetan alphabet, books were also written in the native tongue. The Mani Kambum, which is an historical work attributed to Srongtsan Gampo, is the production of a Tibetan; and, besides this, the "Grammatical Introduction," and the "Characteristic Letters" of Thumi Sambhota, as well as the historical works on Tíbet written by the ancient Tibetan translators, appear to have been composed in the vernacular tongue. 1 From the fourteenth century, beginning with Tsonkhapa, native literature developed itself on a large scale. Tsonkhapa himself published systematic works of a most voluminous character; his principal works are the Bodhi-mur, the Tarnim-mur, the Altanerike, and the Lamrim "a degree to advance," a title which has also been employed by other writers. Many learned Tibetans also used the vernacular in composing their numerous commentaries on Buddhist dogmas and history; and in writing in Tibetan they were followed even by the Mongolians, who were obliged to learn Tibetan because it formed (then, as now) the sacred language of divine service.

Also Csoma, in his paper on historical and grammatical works in Tibet, does not mention Sanskrit titles for these books, as he otherwise usually does when treating of works translated from Sanskrit.

All the Sanskrit translations were again collected, in the form of compilations, in two large and voluminous works, which contain irrespectively the sacred and the profane publications of different periods. These compilations bear the titles of Kanjur, "translation of the commandments (of the Buddha)," and Tanjur, "translation of the doctrine." The Kanjur consists of one hundred and eight large volumes, which are classed under the following seven principal divisions:

1. Dulva, or "discipline."

2. Sherchin, or "transcendental wisdom."

3. Palchen, or "association of Buddhas."

4. Kontseg, or "jewel peak."

5. Do, Sūtras, or "aphorims."

6. Myangdas, treating on the doctrine of "deliverance from emancipation from existence."

7. Gyut, "Tantra," treating on mysticism.

Each of these divisions is composed of a greater or smaller number of treatises. The Kanjur is reputed to contain the "word of the Buddha," its principal contents being the moral and religious doctrines originally taught by Sakyamuni and his disciples. The Tanjur comprises 225 volumes, which are divided into two great classes: Gyut and Do. Its content is of a more miscellaneous character; there are also treatises on the different philosophical schools, besides various works on logic, rhetoric, and Sanskrit grammar. In several volumes the subject is the same as in the Kanjur.

The principal works in these collections were translated about in the ninth century, and other articles,

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especially those in the Gyut division, even much later. For instance, the Kala Chakra, or Dus kyi khorlo, which is contained in the latter, was not introduced into Tíbet previous to the eleventh century; also the translation of the Do class of the Tanjur occupied no doubt a longer period on account of the greater variety of its contents.

Although it still remains impossible to determine exactly the time when these two collections were first compiled yet it is very likely, that the present arrangement of the volumes is not previous to the beginning of the last century; similar compilations may have existed in earlier times, but it is not very probable that they were exactly the same. We owe an abstract of the contents of the Kanjur and Tanjur to Csoma de Körös, whose analysis has been abridged by Wilson. An Index to the Kanjur was edited by the Imperial Russian Academy of St. Petersburgh in the year 1845, with a preface by I. J. Schmidt; a memoir by Schiefner treats of the logical and grammatical works embodied in the Tanjur.1

These collections were printed by order of Mivang, regent of Lhássa, in the years 1728-46; the first edition being prepared at Nárthang, a town near Tashilhúnpo, still celebrated for its typographical productions. At the present day they are printed in many of the monasteries;

1 See about these collections H. H. Wilson, "Note on the literature of Tibet; " Gleanings in science, Vol. III., p. 243. Journ. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. I. Csoma, "Analysis," As. Res., Vol. XX. A. Schiefner, Bull. hist. phil. de St. Pet., Vol. IV., No. 18. Wassiljew, "Notices sur les ouvrages en langue de l'Asie orientale." Bullet. Vol. XIII. Nos. 13. 14.