*Ti
PL145"!
1874
T
ESSAYS
LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION
OF NEPAL AND TIBET:
TOGETHER WITH FURTHER PAPERS ON THE
GEOGRAPHY, ETHNOLOGY, AND COMMERCE
OF THOSE COUNTRIES.
B. H.^ODGSON, Esq.
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE GERMAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY;
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE FRENCH INSTITUTE \ CHEVALIER OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR ;
MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF CALCUTTA, LONDON, AND PARIS J OF THE
ETHNOLOGICAL AND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETIES OF LONDON ; AND
LATE BRITISH MINISTER AT THE COURT OF NEpXl.
Reprinted, with Corrections and Additions, from "Illustrations of the Literature and Religion
of the Buddhists," Seramfiore, 1841 ; and " Selections from the Records of the
Government of Bengal, No. XXVII." Calcutta, 1857.
LONDON:
TRUBNER & CO., 57 & 59 LUDGATE HILL.
1874.
[All rights reserved.]
NOTICE.
When Professor J. Summers was about to start the Phoenix, a monthly maga-
zine for China, Japan, and Eastern Asia, the first number of which appeared, in
July 1870, he solicited and obtained permission of Mr B. H. Hodgson to reprint
in it those contributions of his to the " Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society,"
which bear on the ethnology, languages, and religion of Tibet and Nepal. The
plan Professor Summers had in view is sketched out in the following editorial
note with which the series of reprints is prefaced : —
" The present and following papers (to be given in successive numbers of the Phoenix)
are from the pen of Mr Brian H. Hodgson, and originally appeared in the Bengal
Asiatic Society's Journal, between the years 1828 and 1838. Upon the subject of
ethnology, Mr Hodgson's views have since that time been improved and extended, and
we purpose, when we have completed the present series of papers, chiefly devoted to
Buddhism, to reproduce in the Phoenix those improved and extended views of Tibetan
and Nepaulese races and languages, from No. 27 of ' Selections from the Records of the
Government of Bengal,' wherein they were published in the year 1857. But those
' Selections ' form a work even more inaccessible to men of letters in Europe than the
'Journal of the Bengal Society; ' and we believe, therefore, that we shall be doing a ser-
vice to the learned of Europe by making Mr Hodgson's researches into northern Bud-
dhism and ethnology more generally and easily accessible." — Phoenix, vol. i. p. 43.
Mr Hodgson's "improved and extended views," so far as Buddhism is con-
cerned, were found embodied in numerous marginal notes in his own copy of the
" Illustrations of the Literature and Religion of the Buddhists " (Serampore,
1841). In the same way many manuscript additions were made by him in his
own copy of the " Selections." All these corrections and additions have been
introduced into the text of the present reprint, though they represent, as is only
just to Mr Hodgson to state, various phases of his views, ranging over a period
of nearly thirty years.
Professor Summers further proposed to Mr Hodgson to issue these reprints in
a collected form as a separate publication, to which proposition the latter gave his
ready consent.
At p. 96 of vol. ii. of the Phoenix the reprints from the " Selections " com-
mence, and proceed pari passu with those from the " Illustrations " to p. 26. of
VI NOTICE.
vol. iii., where the last article of the latter (on the Pravrajya Vrata) terminates.
In consequence of this arrangement, the Editor of the present work found it neces-
sary to begin a fresh pagination with the Second Part. References to this part
have, therefore, in. the index been marked by a II. prefixed to the Arabic figure,
showing the page.
Eight pages of the papers on the Commerce of Nepal were remaining to be set
up when Professor Summers' acceptance of an appointment in Japan put a stop
to the publication of the Phoenix, and to the completion of the separate re-issue in
accordance with his original design. Under these circumstances, it was thought
best to place the materials, as left by Mr Summers on his departure, in the hands
of Messrs Trubner & Co., with a view to their eventual publication. Only the
above-mentioned article has subsequently been completed.
On comparison with the two former collective publications, the present one
will be found to have excluded three short articles contained in the " Illustra-
tions " (IX. Remarks on an Inscription in the Rancha and Tibetan characters ;
X. Account of a Visit to the Ruins of Simroun ; XII. Extract of Proceedings of the
Royal Asiatic Society), which were considered as of a sufficiently ephemeral
nature to be omitted, and articles IV., V., and XL 1. 2. of the " Selections " (Route
from Kathmandu to Darjeeling ; Route of Nepalese Mission to Pekin ; Some ac-
count of the systems of Law and Police as recognised in the State of Nepal ; and
on the Law and Legal Practice of Nepal, as regards familiar intercourse between
a Hindu and an Outcast). These last-mentioned would in due course have
appeared in the Phoenix, and have been incorporated in the separate reprint, but
for the sudden discontinuance of that magazine. This is more especially to be
regretted in the case of the papers on Nepalese Law, which still remain the only
trustworthy source of information on that subject. The same may, in fact, be
said of most other papers by Mr Hodgson, especially those on the Tribes and Lan-
guages of the Northern Non-Aryans adjacent to India, which are scattered over
periodicals now scarce and little accessible, and would be well worth preserving
in a collected form, inasmuch as on all these questions, both those treated of in
the present volume and those bearing on the ethnology and glossology of the
Himalayan tribes, he has almost exclusively remained master of a field of re-
search in which he had been the first to break ground.
The foregoing statement will explain the somewhat ungainly form of the
present publication, without, however, it is hoped, detracting from its substantial
usefulness, as placing within the reach of scholars matter which few of them have
means or opportunity to consult in the " Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society,"
or in the " Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal."
Should the present volume be favourably received, the remaining papers of Mr
Hodgson will probably be given in another volume or two.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
ON THE LANGUAGES, LITERATURE, AND RELIGION OF
NEPAX AND TIBET.
Page
I. Notices of the Languages, Literature, and Religion of Nepal and Tibet.
["Asiatic Researches," vol. xvi. (1828), p. 409. Reprinted in
" Illustrations of the Literature and Religion of the Buddhists ; "
Serampore, 1841, p. 1] . . . . . . 1
II. Sketch of Buddhism, derived from the Bauddha Scriptures of Nepal
[" Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. ii. (1828), p. 222,
and Appendix v., p. lxxvii. Reprinted in " Illustrations,'' p. 49] . 35
III. Quotations from Original Sanskrit Authorities in proof and illustration of
the preceding article ["Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society,"
vol. v. (183(5), p. 29, p. 71. Reprinted in "Illustrations," p. 94] . 65
IV. European Speculations on Buddhism ["Journal of the Bengal Asiatic
Society," vol. iii. (1834), p. 382. Reprinted in "Illustrations,"
p. 136] ........ 96
V. Remarks on M. Remusat's Review of Buddhism ["Journal of the Bengal
Asiatic Society," vol. iii. (1834), p. 425 and p. 499. Reprinted in
"Illustrations," p. 144 and p. 152] . . . . .102
VI. Note on the Inscription from Sdrntfth ["Journal of the Bengal Asiatic
Society," vol. iv. (1835), p. 211. Reprinted in "Illustrations,"
p. 158] ........ Ill
VII. Notice of Adi Buddha and of the Seven Mortal Buddhas [" Journal of the
Bengal Asiatic Society," vol. iii. (1834), p. 215. Reprinted in
"Illustrations," p. 164] ...... 115
VIII. Note on the Primary Language of the Buddhist Writings ["Journal of
the Bengal Asiatic Society," vol. vi. (1837), p. 682. Reprinted in
"Illustrations," p. 180] ...... 120
Vlll CONTENTS.
Page
IX. A Disputation respecting Caste by a Buddhist [" Transactions of the Royal
Asiatic Society," vol. iii. (1829), p. 160. Repriuted in "Illustra-
tions," p. 192] ....... 126
X. On the Extreme Resemblance that prevails between many of the Symbols
of Buddhism and Saivism [" Oriental Quarterly Magazine," vol. vii.
(1827), p. 218, and vol. viii. (1828), p. 252. Reprinted in " Illustra-
tions," p. 203] ....... 133
XI. The Pravrajya" Vrata or Initiatory Rites of the Buddhists, according to the
Piija Khanda [" Illustrations," p. 212] . . .139
PART II.
I. On the Physical Geography of the Himalaya ["Journal of the Bengal
Asiatic Society," vol. xviii. (1849), p. 761. Reprinted in "Selec-
tions from the Records of the Government of Bengal," No. xxvii.
Calcutta, 1857, p. 48] . . . . . 1
II. On the Aborigines of the Himalaya ["Journal of the Bengal Asiatic
Society," vol. xvi. (1848), p. 1235, and vol. xvii.,p. 73. Reprinted
in "Selections," p. 126] ...... 29
III. Origin and Classification of the Military Tribes of Nepal ["Journal of the
Bengal Asiatic Society," vol. ii. (1833), p. 217. Repriuted in
"Selections," p. 141] ... . . . 37
IV. On the Chepang and Kusunda Tribes of Nepal ["Journal of the Bengal
Asiatic Society," vol. xvii., ii. (1857), p. 650. Reprinted in
" Selections," p. 150] ...... 45
V. Cursory Notice of Nayakot and of the Remarkable Tribes inhabiting it
[•'Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society," vol. ix., p. 1114. Re-
printed in " Selections," p. 160] ..... 55
VI. On the Tribes of Northern Tibet and of Sifan ["Journal of the Bengal
Asiatic Society," vol. xxii. (1853), p. 121. Reprinted in "Selec-
tions," p. 173] ....... 65
VII. On the Colonization of the Himalaya by Europeans ["Selections," p. 1] 83
VIII. On the Commerce of Nepal [" Selections," p. 11] . . . . 91
Index. 122
LIST OF ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
PART I.
Page 3, line 14, at languages, add foot note, " see on to pp. 29-36."
,, 8, note " *," misplaced, belongs to the word " Buddha," four lines lower.
,, 15, for "Najra" read " Vajra."
,, 19, note. For " see No. 15" read " see on to the Pravrajya Vrata," p. 139, et ccet.
,, 21, for " list of Bhotiya books " read " list (that of Bhotiya books.")
,, 20, for " emigration" read " immigration."
,, 22-32, heading of all, for " religion of Bhot" read " religion of Nepal."
,, 33, heading, erase " List of Buddhist works."
,, 34, for the same heading read " List of Jathagatas. "
,, 23, note, for" ought " read " sought. "
,, 24, line 19, for " and" read " an."
,, 25, 8 lines from bottom, for " meditation " read " mediation."
,, 26, 6 lines from bottom, for " articular" read "particular-."
,, 30, line 14, for " Dharma" read " Dhyani."
,, 39, 1 line from bottom, for " were sent" read " sent by me to Royal Asiatic Society."
„ 49, line 12 from bottom, at the word "them," insert the footnote " || " : " This is
probably an error. Sakya taught orally; but his immediate disciples (Kasyapa,
Ananda, and Upali) reduced his doctrines to writing."
,, 52, line 10 from top, for "bhikshari" read " Khikshari."
,, 60, line 14 from top, for " are " read "is."
,, 60, line 18, after " reduced" read " them."
,, 89, line 9 from top, for "mortals" read " morals."
,, 93, erase the whole of the Dwiamnaya and Triamnaya, and substitute as follows : —
Dwiamnaya.
Upaya. Prajna.
Pi-ajna. Upaya,
The first is theistic ; the second, atheistic.
Triamndya.
Buddha. Dharma. Buddha.
Dharma. Buddha. Sangha.
Sangha. Sangha. Dharma.
The first and third of this series are theistic (diverse) ; the second is atheistic,
Buddha=Upaya, Dharma=Prajna.
,, 98, in note, 4 lines from bottom, for "pp. 137-9 of vol. i." read "for full list of
Sanskrit works, see pp. .36-39 aforegone."
,, 101, note " *." Add to note, "The identity in question has since been upheld by
Cunningham, Wilson (of Bombay), Chapman (of Madras), and Colonel Yule."
X LIST OF ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
Pa^e 102, at word "published" in last line, add footnote "+," "These drawings have
since been presented to the French Institute. "
110, in note, line 10 from bottom, for " above " read " about."
126, at title, add as footnote "J," "From Royal Asiatic Society's Transactions,
vol. ii., dated July 11, 1829."
,, 133, at title, add footnote " +," " From ' Oriental Quarterly Magazine,' No. III. A.D.
1827."
,, 139, at title, add footnote "§," "From volume on Buddhism, printed at Serampore
A.D. 1841."
,, 140, line 5 from bottom, for " Pravra" read " Pravrajya."
,, 141, note, for " Gardhar " read " Gandhar."
,, 142, add to the note, "See enumeration of all the principal objects of Buddhist
worship above given," pp. 93-96.
PART II.
Page 12, line 9, for " reach " read " reaches."
,, 13, lines 19 and 23, complete the brackets after 4000 and after el cat.
,, 14, line 1, for " Lescha " read "Lepcha;" line 5, for " Kaya " read " Vayu ; " line
16, for " Leschu " read " Lepcha; " line 19, after " craftsmen," add, " of which
the names are as follows : — In the mountains. In the valley."
,, 14, line 5 from bottom in note, for " Tharuh " read " Tharii," and bracket the words,
" not own name," and also the word "Sallyan." Add to note, " Many of the
Awalias will be found spoken of in the paper on Nayakot, herein given."
,, 15, at the words " Nepal, J.A.S.B., May 1833," add in note "+," given herein, at
p. 39.
,, 17, line 13, for "viverrula" read " viverricula." Last line, for " Galophasis " read
" Gallophasis. "
,, 19, line 11, for "to" read "too."
,, 21, let the words at bottom of diagram run all through.
,, 25, line 14, for "plateau" read "plateaux."
,, 29, line 6 from bottom, at word " omitted," add footnote, "In the ' Bengal Asiatic
Journal ' for June 1848, may be seen a sample of the Khas tongue."
,, 29, line 3 from bottom, at words " broken tribes," add footnote, " See a paper thereon
expressly, in the sequel of this work. "
,, 30, line 8 from top, add footnote " §," "For the tribes East of Bhutan, round
Assam, and thence down the Indo-Chinese frontier, see papers in the sequel."
„ 31, in note, for " 4500 " read " 4000."
„ 32, line 9, after " Dravidian," add, " Mundarian or H6-Sontal."
,, 32, line 11, at word " dialects," add, " See them, as hereto annexed."
,, 33, line 3, at word " weavers," add footnote, " See list of them aforegone, at p. 14."
„ 34, for " 4500-4700" read " 4000."
,, 39, line 17, for " caste " read " cast."
,, 40, line 4 from top, for " some " read " about 100."
,, 46, line 1, for " already " read " always."
,, 46, line 5 from top, at word "Kusunda," add footnote as follows, "+'':—" Since
accomplished, and the result given hereinafter in the paper on the broken
tribes."
,, 4i"., line S from bottom, at word "Ilaiyu," erase note"§," and substitute " llaiyu,
Eayu, vel Vayu." For more on this tribe, sec Treatise hereinafter given on the
Vaj u and Bahing.
LIST OF ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. xi
Page 53, the headings, for "Tibetan" read "Chepang;" and for " Shopa" read
"English."
,, 57, line 4 from bottom, at word " Denwar," add in footnote "+," "See paper on
broken tribes, before referred to."
,, 60, line 14 from bottom, for "dialect" read " dialects ;" and add footnote : "See
paper on broken tribes, complete vocabulary of these tongues, and compare
13, 14 supra, Part II."
,, 61, line 14 from top, for " overhang " read " overhanging."
,, 05, line 7 from top, at word "tongues" add footnote "+," "See the former instance
here alluded to, in the paper on the Caucasian affinities of the Tibetans as given
in the sequel."
„ 65, line 7 from bottom, for ' ' Trochu " read ' ' Thochu, " and last line, for " Khor " read
"Hor."
,, 60, line 15 from top, at word "Kuenlun" add footnote, "Is not the Karakorum the
western prolongation of the Nyenchhen, and distinct from the Kuenlun, though
curving up to it on nearing the Pamer?"
,, 67, line 12 from bottom, at word "Pekin," add as footnote, "See this itinerary here-
inafter given."
,, 69, line 1, at word "Indochinese," add footnote, "The paper on the Indo-Chinese
borderers herein. "
,, 69, line 20, at word " Caucasus " add footnote, "See paper on these affinities in the
sequel."
,, 72, in note, for " tribunal " read " tribe. "
,, 76, add to second note, "They are given as corrected in the sequel."
,, 85, line 9 from bottom, erase the repeated "no end." Line 7, for "drawback" read
"drawbacks."
,, 87, for " weed" read " weeds." In note, for " 4500 " read " 4000."
,, 88, three lines from bottom, for " an" read " any."
,, 89, before "timber" insert "tea," and add the following footnote "t:"— "The
growth of tea in the lower region, and its sale in Tibet as well as in the plains,
are now affording great and increasing means of profitable employment to
settlers."
„ 89, note "||." For "1832" read "1831," and add at the end of this note: "The
trade papers in question are given in the sequel ; and observe that the tea trade
with Tibet is now adding greatly to our means of successful competition with
Russia."
,, 90, note, last line but one, for " whp " read " why."
,, 92, 4 lines from bottom, at the word " rupees," add in footnote: "See note 't,' in
next page. '
,, 97, line 22 from top, for "or Takyeul" read "and Takyeul;" and for "line of
transit " read " lines of transit."
,, 98, line 13, after " Kothees," add "or houses of business firms."
,, 100, line 14 from bottom, for " th " read " the."
,, 113, line 3 from top, at the word " assertion," add note as follows:— "To judge from
the statements lately made (1S72) by a member of the British Embassy in Nepal,
it would seem that the present condition of Nepal's commerce witli us, as well
as that of ours with her, calls loudly for the attention of our Government."—
Note of 1873.
PART I.
ON THE LANGUAGES,* LITERATURE, AND RELIGION OF NEPAUL AND TIBET.
Within the mountainous parts of the limits of the modern kingdom of Nepaul, there
are thirteen distinct and strongly-marked dialects spoken. These are the Khas or
Parbattia, the Magar, the Gurung, the Sunwar, the Kachari, the Haiyu, the Chepang,
the Kasunda, the Murmi, the Newari, the Kiranti, the Limbuan, and the Lapachan.
With the exception of the first (which will be presently reverted to) these several
tongues are all of Trans-Himalayan stock, and are closely affiliated. They are all
extremely rude, owing to the people who speak them having crossed the snows before
learning had dawned upon Tibet, and to the physical features of their new home (huge
mountain barriers on every hand) having tended to break up and enfeeble the common
speech they brought with them.
At present the several tribes or clans to which these dialects are appropriated, can
hardly speak intelligibly to each other, and not one of the dialects, save the Newari
or language of Nepaul Proper (and the Lapcha, which with the Limbu belongs now to
Sikim), can boast a single book, or even a system of letters, original or borrowed. The
Newari has, indeed, three systems of letters, of which more will be said in the sequel ;
and it has also a small stock of books in the shape of translations and comments from
and upon the sacred and exotic literature of the Newars. But the Newari tongue
has no dictionary or grammar ; nor is its cultivation ever thought of by those,
numerous as they are, who devote their lives to the sacred literature of Buddhism.
It may be remarked, by the way, that the general and enduring effects of this addiction
to an exotic medium, in preference to the vernacular, have been, to cut off the bridge
leading from speculation to practice, to divorce learning from utility, and to throw a
veil of craftful mystery over the originally popular and generous practical Institutes of
the religion this people profess.
Before proceeding to a brief comparison of Newari and of the language of Tibet,
•with a view to indicate the Northern stock of the former tongue, it will be better to
notice the Khas or Parbattia Bhasha, since the subject may be dismissed in a few
words, and will not need revertence to.
The only language of Southern origin spoken in these Hills is the Khas or Par-
battia— an Indian Prakrit, brought into them by colonies from below (twelfth to
* For these languages, see on to the Paper at p. 29 of Part II., " On the Aborigines of the
Himalaya," with its annexed " Comparative Vocabulary."'
A
2 THE LANGUAGES OF NEPAUL.
fifteenth century of Christ) and now so generally diffused, that, in the provinces West
of the Kali river, it has nearly eradicated the vernacular tongues, and, though less
prevalent in the provinces East of that river, it has, even in them, as far as the Trisul
Ganga, divided the empire of speech almost equally with the local mother tongues.
The Parbattia language is terse, simple, sufficiently copious in words, and very char-
acteristic of the unlettered hut energetic race of soldiers and statesmen who made it
what it is. At present it is almost wholly in its structure, and in eight-tenths of its
vocables, substantially Hindee. Yet several of its radical words still indicate an
ancient barbarous stock. And I have no doubt that the people who more especially
speak it (the Khas) were originally what Menu calls them, viz., barbarous moun-
taineers of a race essentially the same with the several other races of Nepaulese
Highlanders. Few persons except Brahmans and professional scribes or Khardars
are regularly taught the Parbattia language ; but most gentlemen speak, and many
read and write it with ease and correctness ; the court where all so often assemble,
being the nucleus of unity and refinement. This language, however, has no litera-
ture properly so called, and very few and trivial books. It is always written in the
Devanagari characters, and, as a language of business, is extremely concise and
clear.
The Gorkhalis speak the Parbattia Bhasha, and to their ascendency is its preva-
lence, in later times, to be mainly ascribed.
Considering that Nepaul Proper, or the country of the Newars, has long been the
metropolis of Gorkhali power, it is rather remarkable that the fashionable and facile
Parbattia has not made any material impression on the Newari language. The causes
of this (not wholly referable to modern times) are probably, that the fertility and
facility of communication characterising the level country of the Newars, soon gave
consistency and body to their speech, whilst their religion (Buddhism) made them look
with jealousy, as well on the more ancient Hindoo immigrants, as on the more modern
Hindoo conquerors. In the mountainous districts, strictly so called, the case was
different ; and, besides, from whatever reason, the tide of immigration into these
regions from the South set chiefly on the provinces west of the Trisul Ganga. There
too, to this day, Brahmanical Hinduism principally flourishes, its great supporters
being the Khas, and, next to them, the Magars and Gurungs. Those southern immi-
grants were refugees from Moslem bigotry ; and were so numerous as to be 'able to
give the impress of their own speech and religion to the rude and scattered high-
landers. The prior establishment of Buddhism in Nepaul Proper prevented these
Brahmanical southerns from penetrating there, where, however, ages before, some
southerns had found a refuge. These latter were Buddhists, fleeing from Brahmanical
bigotry. They came to Nepaul Proper about two centuries after Christ. Buddhism
had previously been established therein, and these immigrants were too few to make a
sensible impression on the speech or physiognomy of the prior settlers, already a dense
and cultivated population. It is difficult to chronologize these events. But apparently
the Sakavans came into Nepaul when Kapila was destroyed by the King of Kosala.
THE LANGUAGES OF NEPAUL. 3
For the rest, the population of the kingdom of Nepaul is principally Bauddha ;
preferring for the most part the Tibetan model of that faith : the Newars are the
chief exception, and the vast majority of them are Buddhists, but not Lamaitcs.
Between the Buddhism of Tibet and that of Nepaul Proper, (or of the Newars)
the differences are,
1st. That the former still adheres to, whilst the latter has rejected, the old
monastic institutes of Buddhism ; 2nd. that the former is still, as of old, wholly
unperplexed with caste ; the latter, a good deal hampered by it ; and that, lastly,
the Tibetan Buddhism has no concealments, whilst the Nepaulese is sadly vexed with
a pr oneness to withhold many higher matters of the law from all but chosen vessels.
CONNEXION OF THE LANGUAGE OF NEPAUL PROPER WITH THAT OF TIBET.
I proceed now to indicate that affinity of the language of the Newars to the
language of the Tibetans which I have already adverted to. I had extended this
vocabulary (in an amplified form) to the whole of the languages above-mentioned :
but the results were, for several reasons, liable to question in detail, so that I
prefer holding them back for the present, though there can be no doubt of the
general facts, that these dialects are of northern origin, and are closely connected.
The language of Nepaul Proper or the Newari, has, as already intimated, much
in common with that of Bhot or Tibet. It is however, a poorer dialect than that
of Lassa and Digarchi ; and it has, consequently, been obliged to borrow more
extensive aid from Sanskrit, whilst the early adoption of Sanskrit as the sole
language of literature has facilitated this infusion. The following is a comparison
of a few terms : —
English.
Neioari.
Bhotiya.
The World.
*(S) Sansar.
Jambu Ling.
God.
(S) Bhagawan.
Lha.
Man.
(S) Manno, or Mijan.
Khiyoga.
"Woman.
Misa. f
Pemi, Kemi.
Quadruped.
(S) Pasu, Pepanchu.
Tendu.
Bird.
Jhongo.
Djia and Chabi, Byu pron. Chu.
Insect.
(S) Kicha.
Bii.
A Worm.
Dalambi.
Dalabii.
Fire.
Mih.
Mha and Mill.
Air.
(S) Phoy.
Lha-phu and Lhawa.
Earth.
Cha.
Sha.
Water.
P. Lo. C. Luk. B. Gna.
CM.
The Sun.
(S) Suraj.
Nima.
The Moon.
(S) Chandrama.
Dawa.
The Stars.
(S) Nagii.
Kerma.
A Mountain.
(S) Parba.
Raj hi and Lumba.
A River.
Khussi.
Changbo
Father
Boba and Opju
Ava and Aba
Mother
Ma
Amma
*The (S) indicates a Sanskrit origin.
fJIl-sa woman, mi-jan man, from the Tibetan
root ini 'man.'
THE LANGUAGES OF XEPAUL.
English.
Neivari.
Bhotiya,
Grandfather
Adjhu
Adjhu
Grandmother
Adjhama
Adzhi
A Child
Mocha
Narmi ? Piza. Bu
A Boy
Kay Mocha and Bhaju
Phu
A Girl
Miah Mochu and Mejii
Pamii
Uncle
Kakka
Aghu
Annt
Mamma
Ibi, Asa
Summer
(S) Taptdla
Chapaha
Winter
Chilla
Gun? Khyabu
Grain
(S) Ann
Soh ? Du
Rice
Jaki, Wa
Bra
Wheat
Cho
Tho
Barley-
Tacho
Marriage
(S) Biah
Pama
Birth.
Macha-Bullo.
Kesin.
Death.
Sito.
Lhesin.
A House.
Chen.
Khim.
A Stone.
Lohu.
Ghara ? To. Do.
A Brick.
Appa.
Arpa.
Temple.
(S) Dewa.
Lha-Kang.
An Image.
Kata Malli, Patima.
Toto, Thu.
A Bridge.
Ta and Taphu.
Samba.
A Tree.
Sima.
Ston-bba or Tongba,
A Leaf.
Sihau and Hau.
Loma or Lapti.
A Flower.
Swang.
Meto, or Mendo.
A Fruit.
Si.
Brebu.
A Horse.
Sallo.
Tapu or Tata.
A Bull.
Doho.
Sandhf.
A Cow.
Masa and Sa.
Pago.
A Buffalo.
Mia.
Mye.
A Dog.
Khicha.
Khigo or Khibo.
A Cat.
Bhow.
Gure.
A Jackal.
Dhong.
Kipchang.
A Sister.
Kikin.
Chamu ? Nuinu.
A Brother.
Ivinja.
Chou? Gmi.
Own Family.
Thajho and Tha Mannu.
Pin.
Kinsfolk.
Phuki.
Phebin.
Strangefolk.
Kato & Miah-Ping.
Chomi.
The Head.
Chong.
Wu or Go.
The Hair.
Song.
Tar or Ta.
The Face.
Qua.
Tongba.
The Eye.
Mikha.
Mhi.
The Nose.
Gnia.
Gmi.
The Mouth.
Mhutu.
Kha.
THE
LANGUAGES
OF NEPAUL.
English.
Newari.
Bhox
The Chin.
Mano.
Noma.
The Ear.
Nhiapo,
Nhamjo. '
The Forehead.
Kopa.
Praia.
The Body.
Mho.
Zhiibii.
The Arm.
Laha, Lappa/
Lakpa, La-g-pa,
The Leg.
Tuti.
Kangba.
Right.
Jou.
Yeha.
Left.
Khou.
Yenni.
A Mouth.
La.
La-wa.
A Year.
Dat'chi,
Lochik.
Day.
Gni or
Nhi.
Nain, Nyi-n-nio,
Night.
Cha.
Chan.
With regard to the Newari words, I can venture to say they may be relied
on, though they differ somewhat from Kirkpatrick's, whose vocabulary, made
in a hurry, exhibits some errors, especially that of giving Sanskrit words instead
of the vernacular. It is remarkable that the Newars, (those that pretend to
education, and those who are wholly illiterate), are apt to give a stranger, a Sanskrit,
instead of their own Newari, name for auy object to which their attention is called
for tire purpose of naming it. This habit owes its origin to the wish to be intelli-
gible, which the Newars know they cannot be in speaking their own tongue.
The real poverty of the Newari is, also, no doubt, another cause, and its want of
words expressive of general ideas: thus, Creation, God, have no Newari names, and
the Sanskrit ones have therefore been borrowed of necessity : the like is true of
the word Mankind, for which, as well as for the two former words, I have not
been able, after great pains, to obtain any vernaculars. When a Newar would express
the idea of God, without resorting to Sanskrit, he is driven to periphrasis, and says
Adjhi Deo, which word is compounded of Adjhu, a Grandfather, and Deo; and
thus, by reverence for ancestors, he comes to reverence his maker, whom be calls,
literally, the father of his father, or the first father. I am quite aware the fore-
gone and following meagre examples of Newari will not go far to establish the
affinity of this language. The subject must be reserved for the future ; but, in the
mean time, I may observe that the northern stock, and intimate affinity of Newari
and of the other dialects before enumerated, (excepting the Ivhas or Parbattia),
are written as palpably upon the face of these languages as upon the physiognomy
and form of the races who speak them.
As for the Bhotiya words, I camiot wholly vouch for them, few as they are,
having obtained them from a Lama, who was but little acquainted with Newari or
Parbattia. The majority are, I believe, sufficiently accordant with the Lhassa
model, but some may be dialectically corrupted. Still, however, they will equally
serve, (as far as they go), to illustrate my assertion that the root and stock of
Newari are Trans-himalayan and northern ; for there are many dialects on both
* Lappa, (almost identical with the Bhotiya Lakpa) means the true arm, or upper
half of the limb. Laha means the whole.
6
THE LANGUAGES CF NEPAUL.
sides of the snows, and some of the inferior Tibetan dialects may, very probably,
come nearer to Newari than the best, or that of Lhassa.
The twelfth word in the Newari column, Water, is given according to the sub-
dialects of the Valley. Water is Lo at Patau, Luk at Katmandu, and Gna at
Bhatgong ; these places being the capitals of as many kingdoms before the Gorkha
conquest, though situated in very close vicinity to each other.
With respect to the numerals of the decimal scale, the resemblance is strik-
ingly close.
Numerals.
Bhotiya.
1. Chi.
Newari.
Chi.
2. Gni.
Na Shi.
3. Sum.
Swong.
4. Zhi.
Pih.
5. Gnah.
Gniah.
G. Tukh.
Khu.
7. Tun.
Nha or Nhasso.
8. Ghiah.
Chiah.
9. Gun.
Gun.
10. Chu (Thampa, an expletive merely.)
11. Chii-chi.
Sanho.
Saran-chi.
12. Chu-gni.
Saran Nassi.
13. Chu (P.) siim, (the letter (P) written
but scarcely audibly uttered.)
14. Chu (P.) Zhi. Saran Pih.
15, Cheanga.
Saran Gniah.
16. Churu.
Saran Khu.
17. Chuptin.
Saran Nha.
18. Chopkia.
Saran Chiah.
19. Churko.
Saran Gun.
20. Ne- shu (thampa.)
21- „
Saran Sanho.
Ni Chi.
22. „
»
Ni Nassi.
23. „
>>
Ni Swong.
24. „
n
Ni Pih.
25. „
V
Ni Gniah.
26. „
?J
Ni Khu.
27. „
JJ
Ni Nhi.
28. „
5)
Ni Chiah.
29. „
»
Ni Gun.
30. Sum chu i
(thampa.)
Ni Shao.
31. „
jj
Swi Chi.
32. „
?)
Swi Nassi.
33. „
34. „
5J
Swi Swong.
Swi Pih.
THE LANGUAGES OF NEPATJL.
Ehotiya,
35. Sum elm (thampa.)
36. „ „
37
38. „ „
40. Zhe-chu (thampa.)
41- »
42. »
43. „
50. Gna-chu (thampa.)
60. Tukh-chu (thampa.)
70. Tun „
80. Gheali „
90. Gu (P.)
100. Gheah „
1,000. Tong-tha-che.
10,000. Thea.
100,000. Bum.
Newari.
Swi Gniah.
Swi Khu.
Swi Nha.
Swi Chiah.
Swi Gun.
Swi Sanho.
Pi Chi.
Pi Nassi.
Pi Swong.
Gniayu or Pi-Sanho, or merely by pausing
on the last letter of Gniah or :5 and thus
also 60, 70, &c. are formed out of 6, 7, &c.
Qui.
Nhaiyu.
Chaiye.
Guye.
Sach6.
Do-che.
Zhi-dot.
Lak-chi.
Nor is the variation, after passing the ten, of any importance, the principle of
both being still the same ; that is, repetition and compounding of the ordinals ;
thus, ten and one, ten and two, are the forms of expression in both, and so, twice,
&c. The Bhotiya word thampa, postfixed to the decimally increasing series, is a
mere expletive, and often omitted in speech. The Newari names of the figures from
one to ten, as given by Kirkpatrick, are not correct, and hence the difference between
the Newari and Bhotiya names has been made to appear greater than it is : in fact,
it seems to me, that even the little difference that remains in the present specimens
may be resolved into mere modes of utterance. Although the following offer no
verbal resemblances, the principle on which they are formed presents several analogies.
Bhotiya and Newari names of the twelve months.
February.
March.
April.
May.
June.
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
December.
January.
February.
Newari,
Chongchola or Chilla.
Bachola or Ne'la.
Tuchola „ Swoln.
Dil'la
Pela.
Gung'la
„ Gniala.
Yung'la
„ Khola.
Koula
„ Nhula.
Kozla
„ Chitla.
Thingla
„ Gungla.
Pue"la
„ Sola.
Sel'la
„ Zliin'cbala.
Chil'la
„ Zhin'unla.
Bhotiya.
Dagava (or Lawa) Tangbu.
(Lawa) Gnipa.
,, ,, Sumba.
,, ,, Zhiba.
,, ,, Gnappa.
,, ,, Tuakpu.
,, „ Tumba.
,, ,, Gnappa.
,, ,, Guabba.
,, ,, Chuba.
,, ,, Chu-chikpa.
,, ,, Chu-gnipa.
8
THE LANGUAGES OF NEPAUL.
Sunday,
(S)
Adhwina,
Monday,
(S)
Sworn wa,
Tuesday,
(S)
Ongwa,
Wednesday,
(S)
Budhwa,
Thursday,
(S)
Bussowa,
Friday,
(S)
Sukrawa,
Saturday,
(S)
Sonehowa,
The second set of Newari names is formed merely by compounding the word La,
a month, with the names of the cardinals, one, two, etc. As for the first set of
names, there too we have the final La ; and the prefixes are mere characteristic
epithets of the seasons ; thus, February is called Chilla ; but Chilla means also
the cold month, or winter.
The Bhotiyas, like the Newars, have no simple names for the months, but call
them periphrastically the first, etc., month. Dawa and Lawa both mean a month ;
but in speech this word is never prefixed, save in speaking of the first Bhotiya
month or February, for from February their year begins. What Tangbu means, I
know not, unless it be the same with Thampa, the word that always closes the
series of numbers, 10, 20, 30, etc. The names of all the others are easily explained,
they being compounds of the numbers 2, 3, etc., with the syllable pa or ba — evi-
dently the La of the Newars — postfixed.
Newari names of the seven Bhotiya names of the
days of the week. seven days.
or Chanhu, Nima.
„ Nenhu, Dawa.
„ Swonhu, Mimer.
„ Penhu, Lhakpa.
„ Gnianhu, Phoorboo.
„ Khonhu, Pasang.
„ Nhainhu, Pemba.
The first of the Newari series are wholly corrupt Sanskrit, and the second formed
by compounding the word Nhi or Gni, a day, with the cardinals : the Newars
have no simple words of their own, expressive of the seven days.
A variety of characters is met with in the Nepaulese and Bhotiya books, some
of which are now obsolete. A manuscript, of which a copy is forwarded, contains a
collection of these alphabets, each bearing a separate designation. Of the Newari,
three kinds of letters are most familiarly known, and four of the Bhotiya.
WRITTEN CHARACTERS OF NEPAUL PROPER.
The three Newari alphabets (so to speak) are denominated Bhanjin Mola, Ranja,
and Newari. Whether these three sorts of letters were formerly used by the Siva
Margi Newars, I cannot say ; but old Bauddha * works exhibit them all, especially
the two former. Newari alone is now used by both sects of Newars for profane
purposes ; and for sacred, both often employ the Devanagari, oftener the Newari.
If the Siva Margi Newars ever used (which I doubt) Bhanjin Mola, or Ranja, at
least they do so no longer ; and the Newars of the Buddha faith having long ceased
ordinarily to employ those letters in making copies of their Scriptures, few can now
write them, and the learned only (who are accustomed to refer to their old works)
can read them with facility.
In regard to the origin of these letters, we may at once refer the Newari to
Nagari ; but the other two present at first sight more difficulties. Dr Carey was,
some time back, of opinion that they are mere fanciful specimens of caligraphy
* For Buddha read Bauddha, et sic passim, where the word is used adjectively.
THE LANGUAGES OF NEPAUL. 9
This notion is refuted by the fact of their extensive practical application, of which
Dr. Carey was not aware when he gave that opinion. By comparing one of them
(the Ranja) with the fourth alphabet of the Bhotiyas, it will be seen, that the
general forms of the letters have a striking resemblance. And as this Lanja or
Ranja is deemed exotic by the Bhotiyas, I have no doubt it will prove the same
with the Newari letters so called : for the words Lanja, Lantza, and Ranja are one
and the same. Of the Bhanjin Mola, it may be observed that it has a very ornate
appearance, and, if the ornamental parts were stripped from the letters, they (as
well as the Ranja) might be traced to a Devanagari origin, from the forms of
which alphabet the Bauddhas might possibly alter them, in order to use them as
a cover to the mysteries of their faith. The Bauddha literature is, originally,
Indian. Now, though probability may warrant our supposing that those who origi-
nated it, together with its religion, might alter existing alphabetical forms for the
purpose above hinted at, it will not warrant our conjecturing, that they would
undergo the toil of inventing entirely new characters. All these systems of
letters follow the Devanagari arrangement, nor shoidd I hesitate to assign them
all a Devanagari origin. Indeed it is well known to the learned, that there were
anciently in the plains of India many sorts of written characters, since become
extinct : and I have no doubt that the letters adverted to were part of these.
WRITTEN CHARACTERS OF TIBET.
Of the Bhotiya characters, four kinds are distinguishable ; but only two of them
are known by name to the Newars : they are called (in Tibet as well as here )
Uchhen and Umen. The first are capitals : the second, small letters : the third,
running hand ; and the fourth, as already observed, equivalent to the Nepaulese
Ranja. There is also a character in use in and near Tibet which is ascribed to the
Sokpa, who, with the Ilor or Horpa, constitute the nomad population of
Tibet, of Turki, and Mongol etymon respectively.
LITERATURE OF BHOT OR TIBET.
The term Bhot is the Sanskrit, Tibet the Persian name, Bod the native one, but
probably only a corruption of the first term, and, if so, the Tibetans had not any
general name for themselves (Bod-pa) or their country when their Indian teachers
first came among them in the 7th centuary, a.d.
The great bulk of the literature of Bhot (as of Nepaul) relates to the Bauddha
religion. In Bhot the principal works are only to be found at the larger monasteries :
but numerous Bhotiya books of inferior pretensions, are to be obtained at Katmandu
from the poor traffickers p.nd monks who annually visit Nepaul on account of
religion and trade.
The character of the great part of these latter, or the Bhotiya books procured in
Nepaul, is that of popular tracts, suited to the capacity and wants of the humbler
classes of society, among whom it is a subject of surprise, that literature of any
kind shoidd be so common in such a region as Bhot, and, more remarkably so, that
it shoidd be so widely diffused as to reach persons covered with filth, and desti-
B
IO THE LANGUAGES OF NEPAUL.
tute of every one of those thousand luxuries which (at least in our ideas) precede
the gTeat luxury of books.
Printing is, no doubt, the main cause of this great diffusion of books. Yet the
very circumstance of printing being in such general use, is no less striking than this
supposed effect of it ; nor can I accoimt for the one or other effect, unless by
presuming that the hordes of religionists, with which that country [Tibet] swarms,
have been driven by the tedium vitce, to these admirable uses of their time.
The invention of printing, the Bhotiyas got from China ; but the universal use
they make of it is a merit of their own. The poorest individual who visits this
valley from the north is seldom without his Pothi [book], and from every part
of his dress dangle charms [ Jantras,] made up in slight cases, the interior of which
exhibits the neatest workmanship in print.
Some allowance, however, should also be made for the very familiar power and
habit of writing, possessed by the people at large : another feature in the moral
picture of Bhot, hardly less striking than the prevalence of printing or the diffusion
of books, and which I should not venture to point out, had I not had sufficient
opportunities of satisfying myself of its truth among the annual sojourners in
Nepaul who come here in hundreds to pay their devotions at the temple of the
self-existent Supreme Buddha [Swayambhu Adi Buddha].
In the collections forwarded to the Society will be found a vast number of
manuscripts — great and small — fragments, and entire little treatises — all which
were obtained [as well as the small printed tracts] from the humblest individuals.
Their number and variety will, perhaps, be allowed to furnish sufficient evidence of
what I have said regarding the appliances of education in Tibet, if due reference
be had, when the estimate is made to the scanty and entirely casual source whence
the books were obtained in such plenty.
The many different kinds of writing which the MSS. exhibit will, perhaps, be
admitted yet further to corroborate the general power of writing possessed by almost
all classes of the people. Or, at all events, these various kinds and infinite degrees
of penmanship, present a curious and ample specimen of Bhotiya proficiency in
writing, let this proficiency belong to what class or classes it may.
Something of this familiar possession of the elements of education, which I
have just noticed as characterising Bhot, may be found also in India; but more, I
fear, in the theory of its institutions than in the practice of its present society,
because of the successive floods of open violence which have, for ages, ravaged
that, till lately, devoted land. The repose of Bhot, on the other hand, has
allowed its pacific institutions full room to produce their natural effect; and hence
we see a great part of the people of Bhot able to write and read.
In whatever I have said regarding the Press, the general power and habit of
writing, or the diffusion of books, in Bhot, I desire to be understood by my European
readers with many grains of allowance. These words are names importing the
most different things in the world in the favoured part of Europe, and in Asia.
The intelligent resident in Ilindoostan will have no difficulty in apprehending the
exact force which I desire should be attached to such comprehensive phrases,
THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL. I I
especially if he wiil recollect for a moment that the press, writing and hooks,
though most mighty engines, are hut engines ; and that the' example of China
proves to us indisputably, they may continue in daily use for ages in a vast
society, without once falling into the hands of the strong man of Milton ; and
consequently, without waking one of those many sublime energies, the full
developement of which in Europe has shed such a glorious lustre around the path
of manin this world.
The printing of Bhot is performed in the stereotype manner by wooden planks ;
which are often beautifully graved : nor are the limited powers of such an
instrument felt as an inconvenience by a people, the entire body of whose literature
is of an unchanging character.
The Bhotiya or Tibetan writing, again, often exhibits specimens of ready and
graceful penmanship. But then it is never employed on any thing more useful
than a note of business, or more informing than the dreams of blind mythology ;
and thus, too, the general diffusion of books (that most potent of spurs to improve-
ment in our ideas) becomes, in Bhot, from the general worthlessness of the books
diffused, at least but a comparatively innocent and agreeable means of filling up
the tedious hours of the twilight of civilization.
SANSKRIT DAUDDHA LITERATURE OF NEPAUL.
With respect to the authorities of the Buddhist religion or their sacred
scriptures, the universal tradition of the followers of this creed (supported by
sundry notices in their existing works) asserts, that the original body of their
scriptures amounted, when complete, to eighty-four thousand volumes — probably
siitras or aphorisms, and not volumes in our sense.
The most authoritative of the books of the Buddhists now extant in Nepaul in
the sacred language of India, as subsequently to be enumerated, are known,
collectively, and individually, by the names of Sutra and Dharma.
In a work called the Puja Khand there is the following passage : —
" All that the Buddhas have said, as contained in the Maha Yana Sutra, and
the rest of the Sutras, is Dharma Ratna," or precious science. Hence the Scriptures
are also frequently called " Buddha Vachana," the words of Buddha. Sakya Sinha
first gave definite form and systematic force to these words, if indeed he did
not wholly originate them; and, in this important respect Sakya is to Buddhism
what Vyasa is to Brahmanism.
The old books of these religionists universally assert this ; the modern Bauddhas
admit it in the face of that host of ascetics whom the easiness of latter supersti-
tion has exalted to the rank of an inspired teacher. The sacred chronology of the
sect is content with assigning Sakya to the Kali Yuga, and profane chronology is
a science which the Buddhists seem never to have cultivated. But the best opinion
seems to be that Sakya died about four and a half centuries before our era. In the
subsequent enumeration of the chief Sanskrit authorities of the Buddhists it will
be seen that Sakya is the "Speaker" in all the great works. This word answers
to " hearer," and refers to the form of the works, which is, for the most part, that
T2 THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL.
of a report of a series of lectures or lessons delivered verbally by Sakya to his
favourite disciples, but sometimes diverging into dialogue between them. That
Sakya Sinha was substantially the originator of this creed, such as it has come
down to our times, is thus I think demonstrable from the uniform tenour of the
language of the great scriptural authorities of the sect, wherein, either before or
after the enunciation of every cardinal text, stand the words, 'thus said Sakya
Sinha,' or, ' so commanded Sakya Sinha.' Sakya Sinha therefore must be con-
cluded to be the founder of this creed, which took its existing written form
from the hands of his earliest disciples, or Kasyapa, Ananda, and Upali.
Adverting now to the technical arrangement, or classification of these works,
I may observe that they are primarily divided into Esoteric and Exoteric, and that
these classes are ordinarily termed Tantras and Puranas by the Buddhists as well
as by the Brahmanists, though the former would likewise seem to convey this
distinction by the words Upadesa and Vyakarana. Vyakarana is also employed in
the sense of narration as opposed to speculation. Gatka, Jataka, Avadana, etc.,
seem to be subdivisions.
The word Sutra as explained, " Mula Grantha," " Buddha Vachana," (chief book,
words of Buddha,) has been held to be equivalent to the Sruti of the Brahmans,
as has their Sinriti to the Bauddha Vyakarana. But, apt as Buddhism is to forget
the distinction of divine and human nature, this analogy must be allowed to be
somewhat defective ; and, in fact, the Sutra of the Buddhists often comprehends
not only their own proper " Buddha Vachana," but also " Bodhisatwa and Bhikshu
Vackana," (words of Bodhisatwa and of Bhikshu); which latter the Brahmans
would denominate " Bishi Vachana," and of course, assign to the Smriti, or com-
ments by holy men upon the eternal truth of the Sruti.
The Newars assert, that of the original body of their sacred literature but a
small portion now exists. A legend, familiar to this people, assigns the destruction
to Sankara Acharya ; and ' the incomparable Sankara ' of Sir W. Jones, is execrated
by the Nepaulese Bauddhas as a blood-stained bigot.*
Of the existing Bauddha writings of Nepaul (originally of Indian growth
and still foimd unchanged in the Sanskrit language) by far the most important,
of the speculative kind, are the five Khandas or parts of the Prajna Paramita or
Raksha Bhagavati, each of which contains 2->,000 distiches. Of the riarrative
kind, the chief are eight of the nine works called the ' Nava Dharma ; ' the ninth
being the Ashta Sahasrika Prajna Paramita. It is a valuable summary of the great
work first mentioned, to which, therefore, rather than to the narrative class, the
Ashta Sahasrika bears essential affinity. In the sequel will be foimd a list of all the
Sanskrit Bauddha works known to me by name.f
* Sankara is placed in the ninth century of Christ (1,000 years ago), and Sakya, the
founder of Buddhism, (for we have nothing authentic before him) certainly was not
horn sooner than about the middle of the sixtli century, B.C. The interval of fifteen
enturiea may vaguely indicate the period during which Buddhism most flourished
in India. The decline of this creed in the plains we must date from Sankara's era, but
not its fall, for it is now certain that the expulsion was not complete till the four-
teenth or fifteenth century of our era. From the ninth century onwards is comprised
the worst period of the persecution. t See the next paper for this list.
THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL. 1 3
The five Rakshas or Paramitas * are enumerated in order in the immediately sub-
sequent detail. They are of highly speculative character, belonging rather to phil-
osophy than religion. The cast of thought is sceptical in the extreme : endless
doubts are started, and few solutions of them attempted. Sakya appears surrounded
by his disciples, by whom the arguments on each topic are chiefly maintained,
Sakya acting generally as moderator, but sometimes as sole speaker. The topics
discussed are the great first principles of Buddhism;! the tenets of the four schools
of Bauddha Philosophy are mentioned, but those of the Swabkavika alone largely
discussed. The object of the whole work seems rather to be proof of the pro-
position, that doubt is the end as well as beginning of wisdom, than the establish-
ment of any particular dogmas of philosophy or religion : and from the evidence of
this great work it would appear that the old Bauddha philosophers were rather
sceptics than atheists.
The nine Dharmas are as follows :
1. Ashta Sahasrika. 2. Ganda Vyiiha. 3. Dasa Bhiimeswara. 4. Samadhi
Raja. 5. Lankavatara. 6. Sad Dharma Pundarika. 7. Tathagata Guhyaka.
8. Lalita Vistara. 9. Suvarna Prabhasa.
Divine worship is constantly offered to these nine works, as the ' Nava Dharma,'
by the Bauddhas of Nepaul. The aggregation of the nine is now subservient to
ritual fancies, but it was originally dictated by a just respect for the pre-eminent
authority and importance of these works, which embrace, in the first, an abstract
of the philosophy of Buddhism ; in the seventh, a treatise on the esoteric doctrines ;
and in the seven remaining ones, a full illustration of every point of the ordinary
doctrine and discipline, taught in the easy and effective way of example and anec-
dote, interspersed with occasional instances of dogmatic instruction. With the
exception of the first, these works are therefore of a narrative kind ; but inter-
woven with much occasional speculative matter. One of them (the Lalita Vistara )
is the original authority for all those versions of the history of Sakya Sinha, which
have crept, through various channels, into the notice of Europeans.
I esteem myself fortunate in having been first to discover and procure copies of
these important works. To meditate and digest them is not for me ; but I venture
to hint that by so doing only can a knowledge of genuine Buddhism be acquired.
Buddhism is not simple, but a vast and complicate structure erected, during ages
of leisure, by a literary people. It has its various schools divided by various
Doctors; nor is the Buddhism of one age less different from that of another, than
the Brahmanism of the Vedas, of the Puranas, and of the Bhagavat. Buddhism
prevailed in India sixteen to seventeen centuries, and, as its genius was free, so
it had even before its founder's death many sects. And soon after his death,
schisms multiplied infinitely despite the three great convocations called to stay
them. These councils took place respectively, B.C. 4(5.5, B.C. 365, B.C. 231. Let
it not be supposed, because these works I have cited were procured in Nepaul,
that they are therefore of a local character or mountain origin.
*On the Prajna Paraniita. see Wassiljew's " Der Buddhismus" p. 157,
f See the suquel at "Religion of Nepaul and Bhot."
14 THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL.
Such a notion is, in every -view, utterly absurd; for the works hear intrinsic
evidence of the contrary in almost every page ; and their language (Sanskrit,) always
wholly exotic in Nepaul, most assuredly was never cultivated there with a zeal or
ability such as the composition of these works must have demanded.
These works were composed by the Sages of Magadha,* Kosala,t and Rajagriha,}:
whence they were transferred to Nepaul by Bauddha Missionaries soon after they
had assumed their existing shape.
The Sambhu Purana is the only local work of importance in the large collection
which I have made. Perhaps it may be surmised, that if (as is stated) the fire of
Sankara's wrath consumed all but some fragments of the sacred writings of the
Buddhists, the ample works now produced must be spurious. But, in the first
place, the legend is but a legend ; and in the next, exaggeration may reasonably be
suspected, both as to number of books then extant and destroyed
The Bauddhas never had eighty-four thousand principal scriptures; || nor could
Sankara destroy more than a few of those which they really possessed when he
came (if he ever came) to Nepaul. The proof of the latter statement is — that Bud-
dhism was, long after Sankara's time, the prevalent and national faith of the
Xepaulese Princes and subjects; and that it is so still in regard to the people,
notwithstanding the Gorkhali conquest. Sankara (or some other famous Brah-
manical controversist) may have converted one of the Princes of the Valley ; but
the others remained Buddhists ; and, no doubt, took care of the faith and property
of their subjects. All old Bauddha works are written in one of the three sorts of
letters now peculiar to Nepaul Proper, usually in Ranja and Bhanjin Mola, and on
Palmira leaves. Copies of the Raksha Bhagavati or Prajna Paramita are very
scarce. I am of opinion, after five years of enquiry, that there were but four copies
if it in the Valley, prior to my obtaining one copy and a half : one copy more I
pot transcribed from an old one.§ No one had, for some time, been able fully to
understand its contents ; no new copy had been made for ages ; and those few persons,
who possessed one or more khands or sections of it, as heir-looms, were content
to offer to sealed volumes the silent homage of their puja (worship). Time and
growing ignorance have been the chief enemies of Sanskrit Bauddha literature in
Nepaul.
The Bauddha Scripture's are with reference chiefly to their form and style,
frequently stated to be of twelve kinds,** known by the following twelve names;
1 . Sutras ; 2. Geya ; 3. Vyakarana ; 4. Gatha ; 5. Udana ; 6. Nidana ; 7. Ityukta :
* The modern Bihar. + Berar. t Rajgir.
We should doubtless read aphorism or text (Sutra or bana), not book, with refer-
in e to the 84,000 in question. The universality of the notion proves that this definit(
number has truth, in some sense, attached to it.
The primitive meaning of Sutra [aphorism, or thread of discourse,] implies that Sakya
taught verbally ; and if this be so, Sutra only took its present sense of principal scrip-
ture after his death. These sayings of Sakya may still be found all over the sacred works
of the sect in their original aphoristic form. The destruction of Bauddha books adverted
to in the text, has, I fancy, reference to the plains of India. There it was completi
I aally ; but in the mean while the most valuable works had been saved in Nepaul.
§ These I sent to the Library of the College of Fort William ad. 1825.
** Twelve kinds of Scriptures, see AVassiljew, p. 118.
THE LITERATURE OF XEPAUL. 1 5
8. Jataka; 9. Vaipulya; 10. Aclbhuta Dliarma ; 11. Avadana; 12. Upadesa.
Sutras are the principal scriptures, (Mula Grantlia) as the Raksha Bhagavati or
Prajna Paramita; they are equivalent to the Vedas of the Brahmanists. The
aphorisms of Sakya are the basis of them, hence the name.
Get/as are works of praise, thanksgiving and pious fervour, in modulated language.
The Gita Govinda of the Brahmanists is equivalent to the Buddhist Gita Pustaka,
which belongs to the Geya.
Vydharana are narrative works, such as those containing histories of the several
births of Sakya prior to his attaining Nirvana ; and sundry actions of others who
by their lives and opinions have illustrated this religion, with various forms of prayer
and of praise. Yyakarana, in the sense of narration, is opposed generally to works
of philosophy or speculation, such as the Prajna Paramita. It also characterises
works of an exoteric kind, as opposed to the Upadesa or Tantras.
Gdthds are narrative works, in verse and prose, containing moral and religious
tales, (Aneka Dharmakatha) relative to the Buddhas, or elucidative of the discipline
and doctrine of the sect. The Lalita Vistara is a Vyakarana of the sort called
Gatka.
Uddna treat of the nature and attributes of the Buddhas, in the form of a dialogue
between a Buddhist adept and novice.
Niddna are treatises, in which the causes of events are shewn ; as for example,
how did Sakya become a Buddha ? the reason or cause ; he fulfilled the Dan,
and other Paramitas.*
Ityukta, whatever is spoken with reference to, and in conclusion : the explanation
of some prior discourse, is Ityukta.
Jataka treat of the subject of transmigration or metempsychosis, the illustrations
being drawn from the 550 births of Sakya.
Vaipulya treat of several sorts of Dharnia and Artha, that is, of the several
means of acquiring the goods of this world (Artha) and of the world to come
(Dharnia).
Adbhuta Dhanna, on preternatural events.
Avadana, of the fruits of actions or moral law of Mundane existence.
Upadesa treat of the esoteric doctrines, and are equivalent to Tantra, the rites
and ceremonies being almost identical with those of the Hindoo Tantras, but the
chief objects of worship, different, though very many of the inferior ones are the
same. According to the Upadesa, the Buddhas are styled Yoganibara and Digain-
bara. Tantrika works are very numerous. They are in general disgraced by
obscenity and by all sorts of magic and doenionology. But they are frequently
redeemed by unsually explicit assertions of a supreme Godhead. Najra Satwa
Buddha is the magnus Apollo of the Tantrikas.
The following is an enumeration of some of the most important individual speci-
mens of the preceding classes.
* Paramita here means virtue, the moral merit by which our escape (passage") from
mortality is obtained. Dana, or charity, is the first of the ten cardinal virtues of the
Bauddhas ; "and other" refers to the remaining nine. Appendix A. of paper III.
Yiram beyond and itd gone.
1 6 THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL.
First khand, or section, of the Raksha Bhagavati or Prajna Paramita. It is a
Maha Yana Siitra Sastra. It begins with a relation (by himself) of how Sakya
became Bhagavan (deified) ; and how he exhorted his disciples to study and
meditate his principles ; and how he explained the doctrine of Avidya, that is,
as long as Avidya* lasts, the world lasts, when Avidya ceases, (Nirodha) the world
ceases; aliter, Pravritti ends, and Nirvritti* begins. Such are the general contents
of the former part of this khand ; and the latter part of it is occupied with explana-
tions of Siinyata and Maha Siinyata.* Sakya is the speaker, the hearers are Subhuti,
and other Bhikshukas : the style is prose (Gadya).
Second and third khands of the Raksha Bhagavati. Contents the same as above.
The fourth khand of the Raksha Bhagavati relates how any one becomes Sarva-
karmajna, or skilled in the knowledge of all things on earth and in heaven ; in a
word, omniscient; besides which, the subjects of the former khands are treated of,
in continuation, in this.
The fifth khand of the Raksha Bhagavati. It is a sort of abstract of the other
four which form one work. Besides Avidya, Siinyata, and all the other great
topics of the prior khands, this khand contains the names of the Buddhas, and
Bodhisatwas.
These five khands or divisions ai*e each called Pancha, Vinsati, Sahasrika, Prajna
Paramita ; the three first words indicating the extent of each division, and the two
last, the nature of the subject or transcendental wisdom. Sata Sahasrika is a col-
lective name of the four first khands, to which the fifth is not necessarily adjunct ;
and indeed it is one of several abstracts of the Sata Sahasrika, as already stated.
Arya Bhagavati and Raksha Bhagavati, or holy Goddess and Goddess of Deliver-
ance, are used, indifferently with Prajna Paramita, as titles of each or all of these
five khands. The five khands are all in prose, and comprise the philosophy of
Buddhism.
Ashtasdhasrika Prajna Paramita, a Maha Yana Siitra. Another and smaller
epitome of the transcendental topics discoursed of at large in the Sata Sahasrika.
It is prose. Sakya is the speaker; and Subhuti and other Bhikshukas,t the
hearers.
ASHTA SAHASEIKA VYAKIIYA.
This is a comment on the last work by Hara Bhadra, in verse and prose.
Ganda Vyuha, a Vyakarana Sastra, contains forms of supplication and of thanks-
giving, also how to obtain Bodhijnana, or the wisdom of Buddhism. Prose :
speaker, Sakya ; hearer, Sudhana Kumara. The Ganda Yyuha is a treatise on
transcendentalism by Arya Sanga the teacher of the Yogacharya.
Dasa Bhumeswara, a Vyakarana, containing an account of the ten Bhumis.f
Prose: speaker, Sakya; hearer, Ananda Bhikshuka.
* See the explanation of these terms in the sequel. The}' form the basis of the
philosophy of Buddhism.
f Bhikshu, name of a Buddhist mendicant. See on to section on Religion.
+ Ten heavens, or ten stages of perfectibility: sometimes thirteen are enumerated and
the thirteen grades of the .spire of the Chaitya are typical of them. See Laidlay's
Fahian, p. 91, and J.R.A.S. xi. 1, 21.
THE LITERATURE OF NEPAL' L. I 7
Samddhi Raja, a Vyakarana ; an account of the actions by which the wisdom of
Buddhism is acquired, and of the duties of Bodhisatwas. Prose : speaker, Sakya ;
hearers, Havana and others.
Sad Dharma Pundarika, a Vyakarana, an account of the Maha and other Dipa
Danas, or of the lights to he maintained in honour of the Buddhas, and Bodhisatwas ;
with narrations of the lives of several former Buddhas by Sakya, as well as prophetic
indications of the future eminence of some of his disciples. Speakers and hearers,
Sakya, Maitreya, Manjusri, etc.
Lalita Vistara. This is a Vyakarana of the sort called Gatha. It contains a
history of the several births of Sakya, and how, in his last birth, he acquired
perfect wisdom, and became Buddha. Verse and prose : speaker, Sakya ; hearers,
Maitreya and others.
Guhya Samagha, otherwise called Tathagata Guhyaka ; an Upadesa or Tantra ;
contains numerous mantras, with explanations of the manner of performing-
esoteric rites. Frose and verse: speaker, Bhagavan (i.e. Sakya) ; hearers, Vajra
Pani* Bodhisatwa and others.
Suvarna Prabhdsa, a Vyakarana Sastra; discourses by Sakya for the benefit of
Lakshmf, Saraswatf and others ; also an account of the Bhagavata Dhatu, or
mansions of the deities. Prose and verse : speaker, Sakya ; hearers, Litsavi t
Kumara, the above named Goddesses and others.
Swayambhu Purdna, the greater ; a Vyakarana of the sort called Gatha : an
account of the manifestation of Swayambhu or Adi Buddha \ in Nepaul, and the
early history of Nepaul. Verse: speaker, Sakya; hearer, Ananda Bhikshuka.
Sirai/ambhu Parana, the less, a Gatha, summary of the above ; an account of
Swayambhu Ohaitya, (or temple). Verse and prose : speaker and hearer, as above.
Karanda Vyuha, an account of Lokeswara Padma Pani. Prose : speaker and
hearer, as above.
Guna Karanda Vytiha, a Gatha; an amplification of the above in verse.
Speaker and hearer, as above.
Mahdvastu, an Avadana Sastra; an account of the fruits of actions, like the
Karma Vipaka of the Brahmans. Prose : speaker and hearer, as before.
Asoha Avadana; an account of the Triad, or Buddha, Dharma, Sangha; also of
the Chaityas, with the fruits of worshipping them. Verse : speaker, Upagupta
Bhikshuka; hearer, Asoka Raja.§
Bhadra Kaipika, an Avadana Sastra ; a detailed account of the Buddhas of this
Kalpa.** Verse and prose; speaker, Sakya; hearers, Upagupta Bhikshuka, with
a host of immortals and mortals.
Jdtaka Maid; an account of the meritorius actions of Sakya in his 5Go births,
* Vajra Fani is thereon of Vajra Satwa Buddha, already alluded to as the magnus
Apollo of the Tantrikas. See Fahian, p. 13-3.
+ Litsavis are the so called Scyths. Litsabyis in Tibetan. For Sakas, see J.R.A.S.
xii. 2, 460. {Swayambhu means self-existent. Adi, first, ami Buddha, -wise.
§ This is the celebrated friend of Antiochus and builder of the Lata.
** It is styled the Golden because four Buddhas belong to it, viz., Karkut, Kanaka,
Kasyapa, ami Sakya.
c
1 8 THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL.
prior to his 'becoming a Tathdgata. Verse and prose : speaker, Sakya ; hearer,
Ananda Bhikshu.
Manichura, an Avadana ; an account of Manichur Raja, also of the first birth
of Sakya, and of the fruits of his actions. Prose : speaker and hearer as above.
Dwdvinsati Avadana, an Avadana Sastra ; an account of the fruits of building,
worshipping and circumambulating* Chaityas. Verse and prose : speaker, Sakya ;
hearer, Maitreya.
Nandi Mukha Swaghosha, an Avadana; an account of the great fast called
Vasundhara, and of the fruit of observing it. Prose : speaker, Sakya ; hearer,
Ananda.
Bodhi-charyd, an Avadana Sastra, of the sort called Kavya ; contains a highly
laudatory account of the virtue of charity and of the Bodhi-Charya, or Buddhist
duties. Verse : speaker, Maitreya ; hearer, Sudhana Kumara.
Karuna Pundarika, an Avadana ; an account of Arinemi Raja ; of Samudra
Renu, Purohita ; of Ratna Garbha, Tathagata; and of Avalokiteswara, (i. e.,
Padma Pani Bodhisatwa) interspersed with sundry philosophical topics which are
discussed by Sakya in a broken manner. Sakya, then, in anticipation of his demise,
gives directions as to the mode in which his system is to be taught. Prose :
speaker, Sakya ; hearers, Maitreya, &c.
Chandomrita Mala, a treatise of prosody ; the measures illustrated by verses
laudatory of Sakya Sinha. Verse and prose : the author Amrita Bhikshu.
Lokesxoara Satdka, a hundred verses in praise of Padma Pani. Verse : author,
Vajra Datta Bhikshu.
Saraka Dhdrd, with a comment ; a Kavya in praise of Arya Tara, Buddha
Sakti. Verse : author, Sarvajna Mitrapada Bhikshu.
Apardmita Dhdrani, an Upadesajf contains many Dharams addressed to the
Buddhas, who are immortal (Aparamitayusha Tathagata). Prose : speaker,
Sakya; hearer, Ananda Bhikshu.
Dhdrani Sangraha, a collection of Dharanis, as Maha, Vairochana's D. Maha
Manjusri's D. and those of many other Buddhas and Bodhisatwas. Verse : speaker,
Sakya; hearer, Vajra Pani.
1'ancha Rakshd, an Upadesa Dharani ; an account of the five Buddha Saktis,
called Pratisara, &c.$ Prose: speaker, Sakya ; hearer, Ananda. §
Pratyangird Dhdrani, an Upadesa Dharani ; an account of Pratyangira Bud-
dha Sakti. Prose: speaker, Sakya; hearer, Ananda Bhikshu.
* This circumambulation is one of the commonest and most pious actions of Buddhist
devotion. Mental prayers are repeated all the while, and a small cylinder fixed upon
the upper end of a short star] or Handle, is held in the right hand and kept in perpetual
revolution. This cylinder is culled Mani ; some Laves of the sacred books are usually
enclosed in it. Its use is more common to Tibetans than to Nepaulese. Both people
use beads to count their repetitions of holy words.
f Dilantins, though derived from the Upadesa, arc exoteric. They are short signifi-
cant tonus of prayer, similar to the Panchanga of the Brahmans. Whoever constantly
repeats or wears [made up in little lockets] a dharini, possesses a charmed life.
+ See classified enumeration of the principal objects of Buddhist worship. But
Pratisara is not therein named. These are Tantrika goddesses.
§ The Pancha Etaksha is now used in Courts of .lust ice to swear Buddhists upon.
THE LITERATURE OF NEPAUL. 19
Tdrd Satndma, an Upadesa Dharani, contains an account of Arya Tara, of her
hundred names, her Yija mantras, &c. Verse: speaker, Padma Pani; hearer,
Vajra Pani.
Sugatdvaddna, an Avadana Sastra, contains an account of the feast kept in
honour of Sanghas or Bodhisatwas. Verse: speaker, Vasundhara Bodhisatwa ;
hearer, Puslipaketu Ilajakumara.
Sukhavati Loka, account of the so called heaven of Amitabha Buddha.**
Verse : speaker, Sakya ; hearers, Ananda aud others.
Saptavara Dharani, an Upadesa of the sort termed Dharani; an account ot the
seven Devis (Buddha Saktis) called Vasundhara, Vajra Vidarini, Ganapati Hridaya,
Ushnisha Vijaya, Parna Savari, Marfchi, Graha Matrika, together with their Vija
mantras. Prose : speaker, Sakya ; hearers, Ananda and others.
Kriyd Sangraha, an Upadesa; an account of the Tantrika ritual. Prose:
speaker, Sakya ; hearers, Vajra Pani, &c, resemhles the Mahodalhi of the
Brahmans.
Sumaghdvaddna, an Avadana Sastra ; on account of the heaven (Bhuvana) of
the Bhikshukas ; near the close is a story of the merchant Sumagha and his
wife, whence the name of the work. Prose : speaker, Sakya ; hearer, Ananda.
Chaitya Pungava, an Avadana on the worship of the Chaityas. Prose : speaker,
Sakya ; hearer, Suchetana Bhikshuka.
Kathindvaddna, an Avadana Sastra ; containing an account of the merit and
reward of giving the Pindapatra,* Khikshari, Chivara and Nivasa to Bhikshukas.
Prose: speaker, Sakya; hearer, Kasyapa Bhikshu.
Piiidapafrdvaddna, an account of the begging platter of 1lie Bhikshus, and
of the merit of bestowing it to them. Prose : speaker and hearer, as above.
Dhwajdgra Keyuri, an Upadesa, or Tantrika Dharani ; au account of Dhwa-
jagra Keyuri, Buddha Sakti. Prose : speaker, Sakya ; hearer, Indra Deva (the god J.
Graha Matrika, a Tantrika Dharani; account of Graha Matrika, Buddha
Sakti. Speaker, Sakya ; heaver, Ananda Bhikshu.
Ndgapu/d, a manual of worship to the Nagas for rain. It is extracted from the
Sadhana Mala. It is of the same character as the Vrata Paddhati of the
Brahmans.f
Mahdkdla Tantra, an Upadesa ; account of the worship to be paid to Maha-
kala. Prose : Vajra Satwa Bhagavan (i. e. Buddha) ; speaker and hearer
his Sakti, named Vajra Sattwatmakf.
Abhidhdnottaroitara, an Upadesa ; account of the esoteric rites. Prose : speaker,
Vajra Satwa Bhagavan ; hearer, Vajra Pani. The rites prescribed by this book
** Dasabhuvana affords no place for Adi Buddha, or the five Dhyanis.
* The begging platter, staff, and s1cii.It habiliments of the Bauddha mendicant are
called by the names in the text. The Chivara is the upper, the Nivasa the lower
garb ; see on to No. 15 for dress and discipline of all the four orders. They require also
for dress a pair of wooden sandals, an umbrella, and a gandhas or ewer for holding
water.
t The high honour paid to the Nagas and Indra in Nepaul carries us beyond the
Pauranic era to that older time represented in India by theVedic gods and ritual.
20 LITERATURE OF -TIBET.
resemble in character the Tantrika ritual of Braknianisni, and differ from it only
in being- addressed to different objects.
Vinaya Si'ttra, Treatise on Discipline. Author, Chandra Kirti Acharya. It
is equivalent to the Vyasa Sutra of the Brahmans.
KaljHihtdraddna, an Avadana, a highly ornate account of the first birth of Sakya,
and of the fruits of his actions in that birth. Verse: author, Kshemendra Bhikshu.
Gitd Pustaka, a Geya ; a collection of songs on Tantrika topics, by various hands.
Stotra Sangrdha, the praises of Buddha, Dharnia, and Sangha. In verse of
various measures and by various authors.
Divydvaddna, an Avadana Sastra, containing various legends of the first birth of
Sakya. Verse and prose : speaker, Sakya, hearers, Ananda Bhikshu and others. £
BHOT LITERATURE IN THE LANGUAGE OF TIBET.
The following list of a more miscellaneous description. ||
BHOTIYA "WORKS.
Suinachik ; by Thula Lama, written at Khanam in Bhot, on Jurisprudence.
ChamaDam; by Aguchu Lama, at Tija Nowaj subject similar to the Sagun
Pothi of the Hindus.
Chariig ; by Thiya Lama, at Gejaketha, on the Jnana Pothi of the Hindus, or
divine wisdom.
Churiige Chapah ; by Yepah Begreh Maha Lama, at Pargreh ah chu, on cure
of all diseases.
Tuchurakh ; by Suka Lama, at Jab-la Denuk ; read by mendicant monks to
prosper their petition for alms.
Maui Pothi ; by Ohufil Lama ; at Gumewan ; on the use and virtue of the
mani or praying cylinder.
CM Dam ; by Gevighup Lama, at Yeparkas, on medicine.
Napache Pothi; by Aberak Lama, at Jatu Lam, on physical science, or the
winds, rain, weather.
Kichak ; by Kihiah Lama, at Botehi, on witchcraft, demonology, &c.
Tui takh lu ; by Ttakachandah Lama, at Kubakh, on science of war.
Dutakh-a-si; by Bajachik Lama, at Gnama, read by survivors on the death of
a relation, that they may not be haunted by his ghost.
Serua-takh ; by Takachik Lama, at Yipurki. To be read by travellers during
their wanderings, for the sake of a safe return.
Sata-tu-mah : by Yisahsekar Lama, at Sebhala, read previous to sitting on
a panchaet for a prosperous issue thereof.
Kerikh ; by Amadatakh Lama, at Asi ; to be read for increase of temporal goods.
+ Since the above was composed, I have added greatly to my stock of Sanskrit works.
For their names, see the list appended to next paper — Note of .1837.
|| This list represents merely the odds and ends first got at. Soon after I procured
the catalogue of the Kahgyur and ascertained that the great Tibetan Cyclopaedia
consisteil (if translations from those Sanskrit originals whereof a part only had been
rved in Xepaul. I learnt this, and sent the catalogue to Calcutta before Dc Koros*
appearance three.
THE LITERATURE OF TIBET. 2 1
Numbeh ; by Titakli Lama ; at Bere-ga-hakh ; to be read at times of gathering
flowers for -worship.
Dekmujak ; by Miuitake-tan Lama, at Miinka ; to be read previous to laying the
foundation of a house.
Thaka-pah ; by Gagamatakh Lama, at Ma-chaclekoh ; to be read whilst feeding
the sacred fishes at the temple ; a very holy act.
Kusa ; by Nemachala Lama, at Yeparenesah ; to be read at the time of bathing.
Lahassa-ki-pothi ; by Uma Lama, at Lassa; to be read before eating, while
dinner is serving up, to keep off wicked spirits.
Ckandapu; by Grahah Lama, at Jubu-nasah ; to be read previous to making
purchases.
Sachah ; by Urjanh Lama, at Jadiin ; to be repeated whilst exonerating them-
selves, that no evil spirit may come up.
Bachah ; by Jahadegh Lama, at Maharah ; to be read by lone travellers, in
forests and bye-ways, for protection.
Kajaw ; by Olachavah Lama, at Karah ; to be read by a dead man's relatives
to free his soul from purgatory.
Yidaram ; by Machal Lama, at Saduri ; to facilitate interviews, and make them
happy in their issues.
Ditakk ; by Chopallah Lama, at Urasikh ; to interpret the ominous croaking
of crows, and other inauspicious birds.
Karachakk ; by Khuchak Lama, at Pheragiah.
Chala ; by Gidu Lama, at Bidakh ; to be read at the time of drinking, that no ill
may come of the draught.
Kegii ; by Tupathwo Lama, at Kabajeh ; for increase of years, and a long life.
Ohabeh ; by Akabeh Lama, at Ari Kalaguh ; to be read for removing the incle-
mencies of the season.
Kaghatukh ; by Sugnah Lama, at Bole Kachar ; to be read by horsemen, at
seasons of journeys that they may come to no harm.
Liichii ; by Xowlah Lama, at Chagiira Kahah ; to be read for increase of
eloquence and knowledge of languages.
Ghikatenah : by Sujanah Lama, at Seakuhah ; to be read by archers for success
of their craft.
Baudh Pothi ; or history of the founding of the Temple of Kasachit in Nepaul,
with other matters appertaining to Buddhism in Nepaul.*
Siri Pothi ; by Bistakow Lama ; at Jauiatakh ; a general form of prayer for
rich and poor, sick and healthy, man and woman.
The latter of these lists of Bhotiya books is a mere thing of shreds and patches,
and, in fact, I have no means of enumerating the standard works of Tibetan
literature. But I have no doubt that Tibet is indebted for its literature to Bauddha
Missionaries, and Refugees from Hindustan. These individuals carried with them,
* The temples of Kasachit and of Swayambmi Natlia though .situated in the Valley of
Nepaul, are almost exclusively in the keeping of the Tibetans, and Lamas are the
permanent ministering functionaries.
11 THE RELIGION OF BHOT.
and subsequently procured from India, many of the sacred and profane works of
their sect, and, as was their wont, they immediately began to instruct the people of
Bhot in their own, that is, in the Sanskrit, letters and language. They had, no
doubt, some success in this measure in the first period of their emigration into Bhot ;
but, in the end, the difficulties of Sanskrit, and the succession of Native teachers
to the chairs of the original Indian emigrants, led to the preference of he Bhotiya
language, and, consequently, to a translation of all the Sanskrit works they had,
and could obtain from India, into the vernacular tongue of the country. This
resort to translation took place very early ; a circumstance which, aided by the
lapse of time, and the further decline of the original literary ardour, inspired by
the Indian Refugees, produced, at no distant period from the decease of the first
Indian teachers, the oblivion of Sanskrit, and the entire supercession of original
Sanskrit versions by translations into Tibetan. The Bhotiyas,* however, although
they thus soon lost the Sanskrit language, retained the Devanagari letters. The
result of the whole is, that the body of Bhotiya literature now is, and long has
been, a mass of translations from Sanskrit ; its language, native ; its letters,(like
its ideas) Indian. To support this view of the case, I have to observe, that even
the Nepaulese, much nearer as they are to India, and much more cultivated in
some respects as they are, have resorted extensively to vernacular comments, and
even translations of their books, which also are Sanskrit ; and that, although the
Newars have a good language of their own, they have no letters, but such as are
clearly of Devanagari origin, and declared by themselves to be so ; that all the
Bhotiyas, with whom I have conversed, assure me that they got all their know-
ledge from India ; that their books are translations ; that the originals, here and
there, still exist in Bhot, but that now no one can read them ; lastly, that most
of the great Bhotiya classics proclaim, by their very names, the fact.f These
remarks are applied, of course, to the classics of Bhot, for, in regard to works of
less esteem there, I believe such to be not translations, but originals ; chiefly
legends of the Lamas, and in the vernacular tongue, (the best dialect of
which is that spoken about Lassa and Digarchi,) but still, like the translated
classics, written in letters essentially Indian.
THE P.ELIGIOX OF NEPAUL AND OP BHOT.
An accurate and complete view of the Bauddha system of belief would involve
the severe study of a number of the voluminous Sanskrit works above specified,
* Bhol is the Sanscrit, and Tibet the Persian, name of the country. The native name
is Bod, a mere corruption of the Sanskrit appellation, proving that the Tibetans had
ao1 reached a general designation fur their country when the Indian teachers came among
them.
t Note of 1837. It is needless now to say, how fully these views have been confirmed
by the researches of De Kbrbs. It is but justice to myself to add that the real nature of
the Kahgyur and Stangyur was expressly stated and proved by me to the Secretary of
tin' Asiatic Society some time before Mr. De Kbrbs' ample revelations were made. Corn-
copies of both collections have been presented by me to the Hon. East India
Company, and others procured for the Asiatic Society, Calcutta; upon the latter Mr.
I >!■ &bros worked.
THE RELIGION OF BHOT. 23
and would demanl more time than could be bestowed upon the task by any person,
not otherwise wholly unemployed. A few observations must, therefore, suffice in
this place on the religious notions of the Bauddhas of this part of India, and in
making them I shall keep chiefly in view the facilitation of the study of a new
subject on the part of those who may find time and courage to explore the great
and new mine of Sanskrit literature which it has been my fortune to discover in
NepauL
Speculative Buddhism embraces four very distinct systems of opinion respecting
the origin of the world, the nature of a first cause, and the nature and destiny
of the soul.
These systems are deuominated,t from the diognostic tenet of each, Swabhavika,
Aiswarika, Yatnika, and Karmika ; and each of these, again, admits of several
sub-divisions, comprising divers reconciling theories of the later Bauddha teachers,
who, living in quieter times than those of the first Doctors, and instructed by the
taunts of their adversaries, and by adversity, have attempted to explain away what
was most objectionable, as Ave 11 as contradictory, in the original system.
The Swabhavikas deny the existence of immateriality ; they assert that matter
is the sole substance, and they give it two modes, called l'ravritti, and Nirvritti, or
action and rest, concretion and abstraction. Matter itself, they say, is eternal,
(however iufinitesimaliy attenuated in Nirvritti) ; and so are the powers of matter
which powers possess not only activity, but intelligence.
The proper state of existence of these powers is that of rest, and of abstraction
from everything palpable and visible, (Nirvritti), in which state they are so
attenuated on the one hand, and so invested with infinite attributes of power and
skill on the other, that they want only consciousness and moral perfections to
become gods. When these powers pass from their proper and enduring state of
rest into their casual and transitory state of activity, then all the beautiful forms
of nature or of the world come into existence, not by a divine creation, nor by
chance, but spontaneously ; and all these beautiful forms ot nature cease to exist,
when the same powers repass again from this state of Pravritti, or activity, into the
state of Nirvritti, or repose.
The revolution of the states of Pravrrttif and Nirvritti J| is eternal, and with
them revolve the existence and destruction of nature or of palpable forms. The
Swabhavikas are so far from ascribing the order and beauty of the world to blind
chance, that they are peculiarly fond of quoting the beauty of visible form as a
proof of the intelligence of the formative powers ; and they infer their eternity
from the eternal succession of new forms. But they insist that these powers
f My Bauddha pandit assigned these titles to theExfract made from his Sastras, and
always used them in his discussions with me. Hence I erroneously presumed them to be
derived from the Sastras, and preferable to Madyamika, &c, which he did not use, and
which, though the scriptural denominations, were postponed to those here used on his
authority as being less diagnostic. In making the extracts we ought to reach the leading
doctrines, and therein I think we succeded.
t Pra, an intrusive prefix : and Vritti, action, avocation, from vrii to turn, move, exist.
See on these terms Burnouf, introduction, p.p. 441, 515.
|| Nir, a primitive prefix, and Vritti as before.
24 THE RELIGION OF BHOT.
are inherent in matter, and not impressed on it by the finger of God, that is, of an
absolutely immaterial being. Inanimate forms are held to belong exclusively to
Pravritti, and therefore to be perishable ; but animate forms, among which man is
not distinguished sufficiently, are deemed capable of becoming by their own
efforts associated to the eternal state of Nirvritti ; their bliss in which state con-
sists of repose or release from an otherwise endlessly recurring migration through
the visible forms of Pravritti. Men are endowed with consciousness, as well, I
believe of the eternal bliss* of the rest of Nirvritti, as of the ceaseless pain of the
activity of Pravritti. But those men who have won the eternity of Nirvritti,
are not regarded as rulers of the universe, which rules itself ; nor as mediators or
judges of mankind still' left in Pravritti ; for the notions of mediation and judg-
ment are not admitted by the Swabhavikas who hold every man to be the arbiter
of his own fate — good and evil in Pravritti being, by the constitution of nature
indissolubly linked to weal and woe ; and the acquistion of Nirvritti being, by
the same inherent law, the inevitable consequence of such an enlargement of his
faculties, by habitual abstraction, as will enable a man to know what Nirvritti
is. To know this, is to become omniscient, a Buddha ; to be divinely worshipped
as such, while yet lingering in Pravritti ; and to become, beyond the grave, or
in Nirvritti, all at least that man can become, and all respecting which some of
the Swabhavikas have expressed much doubt, while others of them have insisted
that it is eternal repose, and not eternal annihilation § (Sunyata) ; though, adds
this more dogmatical school, were it even Sunyata, it would still be good ; man
being otherwise doomed to an eternal migration through all the forms of nature ;
the more desirable of which are little to be wished ; and the less so, at any price
to be shunned.
From the foregoing sketch it will be seen, that the most diognostic tenets of
the Swabhavikas are, the denial of immateriality, and the assertion that man is
capable of enlarging his faculties to infinity. The end of this enlargement of
human faculties is association to the eternal rest of Nirvritti, respecting the value
of which there is some dispute ; and the means of it are, Tapas and Dhyana ; by
the former of which terms, the Swabhavikas understand, not penance, or self-
inflicted bodily pain, but a perfect rejection of all outward (Pravrittika) things ;
and, by the latter, pure mental abstraction. In regard to physics, the Swabha-
vikas do not reject design or skill, but a designer, that is, a single, immaterial,
self-conscious being, who gave existence and order to matter by volition. They
admit what we call the laws of matter, but insist that those laws are primary
* The doctrine is, that they are ; some doctors, however, say no ; the question turns
on the prior acceptation of Sunyata, for which see on.
§ This interpretation of the Swabhavika Sunyata is not the general one, though the
opponents of Buddhism have attempted to make it so ; for the prevalent sense of the
wind among the Buddhas, see on. Plotinus contended that the most perfect worship
of the Deity consisted in a certain mysterious Belf-annihilation or total extinction of
all our faculties. See M. Laurien's account of Newton's discoveries p. 387. This
explains the SaTflgata doctrine of Dhyana, and partially that of Sunyata also.
THE RELIGION OF BHOT. 25
causes, not secondary ; are inherent eternally in matter, not impressed on it by
an immaterial creator. They consider creation a spontaneity, resulting from powers
■which matter has had from all eternity, and will have to all eternity. So with
respect to man, they admit intellectual and moral powers, but deny that imma-
terial essence or being, to which we ascribe those powers. Animate and inanimate
causation, they alike attribute to the proper -\ igour of nature, or Swabhava. I
believe the Swabhavika to be the oldest school of Buddhist philosophy; but that
school has, from the earliest times, been divided into two parties, one called the
Swabhavikas simply, whose tenets I have endeavoured to state above, the other
termed the Prajnika Swabhavikas, from Prajna,|| the supreme wisdom ; viz. of
nature.
The Prajnikas* agree with the Swabhavikas, in considering matter as the sole
entity, in investing it with intelligence as well as activity, and in giving it two
modes, or that of action and that of rest. But the Prajnikas incline to unitize
the powers of matter in the state of Xirvritti; to make that unit, deity; and to
consider man's summum bonum, not as a vague and doubtful association to the
state of Xirvritti ; but as a specific and certain absorption into Prajna, the sum
of all the powers, active and intellectual, of the universe. The Aiswarikas admit
of immaterial essence, and of a supreme, infinite, and self-existent Deity (Adi
Buddha) whom some of them consider as the sole deity and cause of all things,
while others associate with him a coequal and eternal material principle ; believing
that all things proceeded from the joint operation of these two principles. The
Aiswarikas accept the two modes of the Swabhavikas and Prajnikas, or Pravritti
and Xirvritti. But, though the Aiswarikas admit immaterial essence, and a God,
they deny his providence and dominion; and though they believe Moksha to be an
absorption into his essence, and vaguely appeal to him as the giver of the good
things of Pravritti, they deem the connection of virtue and felicity in Pravritti
to be independent of him, and the bliss of Xirvritti to be capable of being won
only by their own efforts of Tapas and Dhyana, efforts which they too are con-
fident will enlarge their faculties to infinity, will make them worthy of being
worshipped as Buddhas on earth, and will raise them in heaven to an equal and
selfearned participation of the attributes and bliss of the Supreme Adi Buddha;
for such is their idea of Moksha, or absorption into him, or, I should rather say, of
union with him. All the Bauddhas agree in referring the use and value of medita-
tion, (earthly and heavenly,) of the rights and duties of morality, and of the
ceremo ies of religion, solely to Pravritti, a state which they are all alike taught to
coutemu ; and to seek, by their own efforts of abstraction, that infinite extension of
their faculties, the accomplishment of which realizes, in their own persons, a godhead
as complete as any of them, and the only one which some of them will acknow-
ledge. The Karmikasand Yatnikas derive their names, respectively, from Karma,
by which I understand 'conscious moral agency," and Yatna, which I interpret
|| Prajna, from pra, an intensitive prefix, and Jnyana, wisdom, or perhaps, the simple
jnn.
* See the sequal for a good summary glance at the philosophy of the Prajnikas.
2 6 THE RELIGION OF BHOT.
'conscious intellectual agency.' I believe these schools to be more recent than
the others, and attribute their origin to an attempt to rectify that extravagant
quietism, which, in the other schools, stripped the powers above, (whether con-
sidered as of material or immaterial natures,) of all personality, providence and
dominion ; and man, of all his active energies and duties. Assuming as just, the
more general principles of their predecessors, they seem to have directed their
chief attention to the phsenomena of human nature, to have been struck with its
free will, and the distinction between its cogitative and sensitive powers, and to
have sought to prove, notwithstanding the necessary moral law of their first
teachers, that the felicity of man must be secured, either by the proper culture
of his moral sense,* which was the sentiment of the Karmikas, or, by the just
conduct of his understanding, a conclusion which the Yatnikas preferred : and this,
I believe to be the ground of distinction between these two schools as compared
with one another. As compared with their predecessors, they held a closer
affinity with the Aiswarikas than with the other schools, iuclined to admit the
existence of immaterial entities, and endeavoured to correct the absolute imper-
sonality and quiescence of the Causa Causarum, (whether material or immaterial,)
by feigning Karma or Yatna, conscious moral, or conscious intellectual, agency, to
have been with causation from the beginning. The Karniika texts often hold such
a language as this, "Sakya Sinha, who, according to some (the Swabhavikas),
sprang from Swabhava, and, according to others, (the Aiswarikas,) from Adi
Buddha, performed such and such Karmas, and reaped such and such fruits from
them."
In regard to the destiny of the soul, I can find no essential difference of opinion
between the Bauddha and the Brahmanical sages. By all, metempsychosis and
absorption are accepted. But absorbed into what ? into Brahma, say the Brahmans,
into Sunyata, or Swabhava, or Prajna, or Adi Buddha, say the various sects of
the Buddhists. And I should add, that by their doubtful Sunyata, I do not, in
general, understand, annihilation, nothingness, but rather that extreme and almost
infinite attenuation which they ascribe to their material powers or forces in
the state of Nirvritti, or of abstraction from all particular palpable forms, such
as compose the sensible world of Pravritti. By tracing the connextion of Sun-
yata with Akasa, and through it, with the palpable elements, in the evolution
and revolution of Pravritti,t it maybe plainly seen, that Sunyata is the uM and the
modus of primal entity in the last and highest state of abstraction from all articular
modifications such as our senses and understanding are cognizant of.
How far, and in what exact sense, the followers of these diverse and opposite
systems of speculation adopted the innumerable deities of the existent Buddhist
Pantheon, it must rest with future research accurately to determine. For my part,
I have no stomach for the marshalling of such an immense, and for the most
* Notwithstanding these sentiments, which are princpially referable to the state of
Pravritti, the Karmikas and Yatnikas still held preferentially to the Tapas and Dhyana,
the severe meditative asceticism of the older schools.
fSee tin; Dasakara or ten forms, where the evolution and revolution of each element
constitutes a phrase of divine energy.
THE RELIGION Or BHOT. 2 J
part useless, host.* But some of the principal objects of worship, with their rela-
tion and connexion, may he noticed. The leading, and most fundamental associa-
tion of these objects is, that of the triad, or three persons named Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha. In the transcendental and philosophic sense, Buddha means ' mind,'
Dharma, 'matter,' and Sangha, the concretion of the two former in the sensible or
phenomenal world. In a practical and religious sense, Buddha means the mortal
author of this religion (Sakya), Dharma, his law, and Sangha, the congregation of
the faithful.
The triad is liable to a theistic or atheistic interpretation in the higher or phil-
osophic sense, according as Buddha is preferred or postponed to Dharma.
The next, and a very marked distinction of persons, is established in this
creed between those avowed mortals who win the rank and powers of a Buddha
by their own efforts, and the Buddhas of a celestial nature and origin.
The most notorious of the former of these are sevenf who are all character-
ised as " Manushi " or human ; of the latter are five or six who are contradistin-
guished as " Anupapadaka," without parents, and also as " Dhyani," or divine.
This second appellation of the Celestial Buddhas is derived from the Sanskrit
name for that abstracted musing which has found more or less favour with almost
all the Asiatic religionists, but which is peculiarly and pre-eminently character-
istic of Buddhism.
The Dhyani Buddhas, with Adi Buddha, their chief, are usually and justly
referred to the Theistic school.
The epithet Dhyani, however, as applied to a class of Buddhas, is obviously
capable of an atheistic interpretation. It is nevertheless certain, that, in whatever
sense other schools may admit this term, or the class of divinities which it charac-
terises, the Aiswarikas (beyond the bounds of Nepaul too)f ascribe this creative
Dhyana to a self-eonstent, infinite^ and omniscient "Adi Buddha," one of whose attri-
butes is the possession of five sorts of wisdom. Hence he is called " Panchajnana
Atmika;" and it was by virtue of these five sorts of wisdom, that he, by five
successive acts of Dhyana, created, from the beginning and for the duration of
the present system of worlds, the " Pancha Buddha Dhyani."
The names and graduation of these Jnanas, Dhyanas, and Buddhas are thus : —
Jndnas. Buddhas.
1. Suvisuddha Dharma Dhatu. 1. Vairochana.
2. Adarsana. 2. Akshobhya.
3. Prativekshana. 3. Ratnasambhava.
4. Santa. 4. Amitabha.f
5. Krityanushthana. 5. Amoghasiddha.
* See further on for a goodly array.
f Called Vipasyi, Sikhi, Viswabhu, Kakutsanda, Kanakamuni, Kasyapa, and Sakya
Sinha. Two others are frequently associated with these to form a series of nine mortal
Buddhas, the extra two being Dipankara and Ratnagarbha. But they are much less
notorious than the seven, and even of them I find nothing distinct recorded, with the
single exception of Sakya, whom I am therefore inclined to regard as the founder of
this creed, such at least as it has come down to us in the existing books and existing
practical religion of the Buddhists.
J For example, in the Katna Kuta Amitabha and Akshobhya are spoken of, and
in the Sarva dharma Mahasanti as well as in the Swayambhu purana and Guna
28 THE RELIGION OF BHOT.
Dhydnas :— The Dhyana of creation is called by one generic name Loka-
Sansarjana; and by five repetitions of this, tbe five Buddhas were created.
It might be expected, that the supreme Buddha, having created these five
celestials, would have devolved on them the active cares of the creation and
government of the world. Not so, however ; the genius of genuine Buddhism is
eminentlv quiescent, and hence these most exalted seons are relieved from the
degradation of acdon. Each of them receives, together with his existence, the
virtues of that Jnana and Dhyana, to the exertion of which, by Adi Buddha, he
owed his existence ; and by a similar exertion of both, he again produces a Dhyani
Bodhisatwa. The Dhyani Bodhisatwas are, one by one, in succession, the tertiary
and active authors of creation. These creations are but perishable ; and, since the
beginning of time, three of them have passed away. The present world is, there-
fore, the work of the fourth Bodhisatwa, who is now Lord of the ascendan", and
his worshippers in Nepaul are wout to invest him with all the powers of a supreme
and sole God, the "Praesens Divus" being, as usual, everything.! When the
existing system of worlds shall have run its course, the offices of creator and gov-
ernor of the next will be assumed by the fifth Bodhisatwa.
The names and lineage of these Dhyani Bodhisatwas are as follows : —
1. Vairochana. 1. Samantabhadra.
2. Akshobhya. 2. Vajra Pani.
3. Ratnasambhava. 3. Ratna Pani.
4. Amitabha. 4. Padma Pani.
5. Amoghasiddha. 5. Viswa Pani.
The Dhyani Buddhas and Bodhisatwas are considered to stand in the relation
of fathers and sons to each other; and as there are Dhyani Bodhisatwas, so are there
Manushi Bodhisatwas,§ who again bear to their respective Manushi Buddhas the
connexion of pupil to teacher, of graduate to adept, of the aspirant after the
wisdom of Buddhism to him who possesses that wisdom. I should add, that it is
competent for a mortal man to become a Buddha,** whilst he yet lingers in the
fle.-h, albeit, the entire fuliilment of the rewards, if not of the prerogatives, of that
transcendent character is assigned to a more unearthly state, viz., the state of Nir-
Kavanda V yiiha, allPuranic or exoteric works, of which the first is not even obtainable
iu Nepaul, noi is bhere any evidence tint any <>t' the other works were composed there.
See Csoma de Kerbs in Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal.
+ Original of the Chinese O-mi-to, a word as utterly without meaning as their Bonze,
of which latter the Sanskrit Bandya is the real ami significant form. Amitabha is the
immeasurably splendid. Bandya is a person entitled to reverence, and the collective
or general appellation of all professed or ascetical followers of Buddha. See Crawford's
Archi})clago for a line representation of Akshobhya, the second Dhyani Buddha. All
the five are represented in the Cave at Bag.
+ Hence the celebrity and popularity of his mantra or invocation (Om mani padme
hum), while those of the two other members of that triad to which Padmapani is thus
associated as the Sangha, are hardly ever heard of. There is a fine image of Padma Pani
at Karnagarh on the Ganges, the old capital nf Champa, now Bhagalpur.
§ The nine mortal Bodhisatwas are variously and vaguely set down; see further
on. Ananda, Manju Ghosha, and Avalokiteswara, are the only ones of whom anything
is known.
** Hence the Divine Lamas of Bhot ; though the original idea has been perverted
somewhat. They are rather Arhantas.
THE RELIGION OF BHOT. 29
vritti. In the above remarks I have inserted only the quinary series of Dhyani
Buddhas and Bodhisatwas. But there is, also, a series of six, the Buddha Vajra
Satwa, and the Bodhisatwa Vajra Pani, being added to the series of five, to perfect
the larger series. Further, as the five material elements,1 the five senses,2 and
the five respective (outward) seats of sense,3 are referred to the series of five
Buddhas, so intellect,4 with apprehension5 and the objects of such apprehension*
or the whole phenomena of the universe,8* are referred to Vajra Satwa Buddhaf.
And it should not escape remark, that the above associations give somewhat of
the dignity of useful knowledge to what must otherwise have been mere voces et
prater en nihil.
Nor is there any want of sufficing original authority for the series of six Celes-
tial Buddhas,! auy more than for the series of five, though the latter may be, and
perhaps is, the older. Wherefore I will take leave in this place to caution the
reader against exclusive and confined opinions, founded upon any one enumeration
he may find ; as for instance, that of the Pancha Buddha Dhyani. Any particular
enumeration may have a definite object. But that does not imply that any other
and larger enumeration, also with an express object, is inconsistent with the other
series. It must at the same time be admitted that the ritualists appear to have
multiplied these Deities upon very frail and shadowy grounds ; and in this way I
find the series of six Celestial Buddhas (which as identified with the elements,
senses, and mind, I consider valid) augmented to nine by the addition of Vajrakaya,
Vajvadharma, and Vajrakarma. The next material distinction of persons or
divinities in this religion is into Exoteric or Pauranika Buddhas and Esoteric
or Tantrika. The first are those ordinarily so called and alone heretofore known to
us. The second are more specially styled Yogambara and Digambara : they form
the link of connexion between Jainism and Buddhism ; and their statues or
images are distinguished either by nudity or by a multiplicity of members : they
are wholly unknown to Europeans. I have already adverted to the general charac-
ter of the Tantrika ritual. It is a strange and unintelligible adjunct of Buddhism,
though vouched by numerous scriptural authorities.
The images of the 5 Dhyani Buddhas, which were sent to the Asiatic Society of
Bengal, occupy (and exclusively so of all lower Buddhas) the base of every Maha
chaitya,§ or highest order of temples in Nepaul; and those images are invariably
distinguished by the respective differences exhibited in the specimens transmitted,
viz., the position of the hands ; the nature of the supporters and the particular
(1) Five Bhutas. (2) Five Indriyas. (3) Five Ayatanas. (4) Manas.
(5) Dharana. (61 Dharma.
* The senses are assumed to be. inert without Manas ; not even sensation, far less percep-
tion, or mental realization of sensation, can exist without Manas.
t Vajra Satwa, or the sixth Dhyani with his appendages, belongs to the Vamacharyas,
whose doctrine as to things in general, or the origin, nature, and connexion of material
and immaterial phenomena, can hardly he reconciled with the views of the older Dak-
shinaoharyas on these topics.
+ E grege the Sarva Dharma Mahasanti, said hy Mr. Csoma to be the bible of the
' oldest Buddhist sect in Tibet. ' For authorities for Adi Buddha and the six Celestial
Buddhas, see Quotations in Proof, 1837.
§ Temple and monastery are the respective equivalents of Chaitya and of Yiham.
30 THE RELIGION OF BHOT.
cognizance of each, which is placed between the supporters. Vairochana is seldom
figured : the other four celestial Buddhas occupy shallow niches at the base of the
hemisphere of the Chaitya, one opposite each cardinal point : Akshobhya to the
east, Ratna Sambhava to the south, Amitabha to the west, and Aniogha Siddha
to the north. Vajra Satwa is seldom represented in statuary form, and never
placed in the Chaityas. But pictorial representations of him are frequent in the
illuminated Sastras, and I have met with his image or sculptured figure in Yiharas.
The Chaitya would appear to be the only exclusively Buddhist form of temple.
It consists of a solid hemisphere, commonly surmounted by a graduated cone or
tetragonal pyramid, the grades of which (the cone or pyramid) are thirteen, and
are typical of the thirteen Bodhisatwa heavens of Buddhist cosmography. The
cone or pyramid terminates in apalus very like a lingam, and which is usually sur-
mounted by an umbrella. This part of the structure represents Akanishtha Bhuvana,
or the highest heaven, or that of Adi Buddha. The five spokes of the umbrella
represent the abodes of the five Dharrna Buddhas. Between the hemisphere
and the cone or pyramid is a short square neck for the latter, upon each of the
four sides of which a pair of eyes is graved which typify omniscience. The
hemisphere is called the garbha; the neck, gala; and the cone or pyramid, chiira-
mani. The Nepaulese are sufficiently familiar with Chaityas in the sense of tomb
temples, or mausolea, or covers of relics (Dagopa) : but all their principal edifices
of this nature are dedicated to the self-existent, first, supreme Buddha, and to his
five celestial aeons. Chaityas are frequently combined with small hollow temples,
of which they form the superstructure : besides which many sacred edifices of
Hindoo form are used by the Buddhists for enshrining their mortal Buddhas, as
well as any of the numberless gods and goddesses of their ample Pantheon. The
followers of Buddha are divided into regular and secular — a division exactly
equivalent to the Grihastha Asrama and Vairagf or Sannyasi Asraina of the
Hindoos — but not equivalent to Laics and Clerics. The regulars are all monastic,
as solitaries or as coenobites, living in deserts or in monasteries (Yiharas). Their
collective name is Bandya (person entitled to reverence) ; and they are divided
into four orders, called Bhikshu or 'mendicants,' Sravaka or readers, Chailaka or
'the scantly robed,' and Arhata or Arhanta or 'Adepts.' They are all monks, and
constitute the congregation of the faithful, or only real Buddhists ; the seculars
having always been regarded as little better than heretics, until political ambition
began to qualify the high-toned enthusiasm of the primitive saints ; and until very
many having come in who could not all live in idleness, these were allowed to
follow the various business of the world, their instruction being provided for by
the monks, some of whom thus became invested with a partially clerical character
which they exercised under the names of Acharya and Vajra Acharya or 'teacher
and powerful teacher.' The monasteries or conventual dwellings of the regular
Buddhists are called Yihara in Sanskrit, Bahi and Bahal in Newari. They are
usually large open quadrangles of a regular form, but sometimes irregular, and
built round a Chaitya, or a Kiitagar temple, (the latter sacred to Mauushi, the
former to Dhyani Buddhas). Every great church was formerly conventual, and
THE RELIGION OF BHOT. 31
the four orders had each their separate Viharas, of which there are still fifteen in
the city of Patan alone, though the Nepaulese have long since abandoned the
monastic institutes of their creed, and hence these monasteries are now secular-
ized, hut still exclusively appropriated to the Bandya or tonsured Buddhists. The
head of a Vihara is called Nayaka, hut his power appears to have been much
more limited than that of the Abbots and Priors of European monachism, and
since this decay of the monastic institutes in Nepaul it has become at all events
strikingly so. Still, however, it is the Nayakas alone who confer the rank and
character of Bandya, and every Bandya is ostensibly attached to some convent
or other, even though he do not dwell in any, as many now do not. Any person
may become a Bandya by submitting to tonsure and taking the usual vows of
celibacy, poverty, and humility, and all these monks are alike distinguished
by a peculiar dress and equipment, which as well as the ceremony of induction
will be found described in the sequel.
The following list of Buddhas completes all I have at present to offer on the sub-
ject. Two lists were prepared for me some time ago by an old Bauddha of Nepaul,
with whom I have long cultivated an acquaintance ; but they were then laid
aside for future examination and explanation when opportunity should serve.
I have accordingly had them compared, under my own eyes, with the scriptures
whence they were extracted, and the comparison has suggested the following brief
elucidatory remarks.
In the first place, the lesser list has proved to be superfluous, all its names being
contained in the larger one. In the next place, the whole number of Buddhas
in the greater catalogue has been found to amount to 131, and not to 145, as stated
elsewhere ; the same name being repeated, in some instances, two and three
times, by reason of this catalogue consisting of literal extracts from several inde-
pendent works. And I have thought it better to leave it in statu quo, than to omit
sundry names of one series because they occur in another. Such omission might
have interfered with some established contiguity of time, place, or circumstances,
in regard to the Buddhas, with which we are not acquainted ; and with respect
to the repetitions, they may be seen in the list, at a glance, by the references
attached to them. There is one deviation from the catalogues as found in the
works whence they are drawn, and it is this. After the names of the six great
Manushi Buddhas (No. -50 to 50) the name of Sakya Sinha, the seventh and last, is
given in my list, though not found at that place in the Lalita Vistara : possibly
because Sakya had not, when that work was compiled/attained Nirvana and become
a Tathagata in the proper sense. His name, though occurring before, is, notwithstan-
ding, reinserted in my catalogue in that place, in order to make up the complement
of the now famous ' Sapta Buddha Manushi,' or seven mortal Buddhas. Before each
distinct series of names, the work from which it is derived, is uniformly noted.
In the works cited, many more names, besides those given in the catalogue,
are to be found, and from the whole of the books which have been procured and
transmitted to Calcutta, hundreds of new names might be drawn.
32 THE RELIGION OF BOHT.
In the Samadhi Raja,* Sarvartha Siddha (Sakya before he became a Buddha,)
is asked by Maitreya and Vajra Pani, how he acquired Samadhi Jnana. Iu reply,
he begins by naming- 120 Tathagatas, who instructed him therein in his former
births; and at the conclusion of his enumeration of Buddhas, Sarvartha Siddha
observes, ' he has given so many names exempli gratia, but that his instructors
were really no less in number than eighty crores !
There is a verse in the Aparimita Dharani (to be found in many other, and
higher authorities) purporting that " the Buddhas who have been, are, and svill be,
are more numerous than the grains of sand on the banks of the Ganges." Some of
these Buddhas sprang, divinely not generatively, from other Buddhas ; some from
Akasa, and some from the Lotos. These are evident nonentities, in regard to
chronology and history. Yet it is often most difficult to distinguish them from
their more substantial compeers, the origin of the latter having been frequently
traced up to heaven by the vanity of superstition, while its grovelling genius no
less frequently drew down the lineage of the former to earth. Again, among
the Buddhas confessedly of mortal mould, there are three wide degrees, that of
the Pratyeka Buddha, that of the Sravaka Buddha, and that of the Mahayanika
Buddha. But the two former are regarded, even by their worshippers, as little
more than mere men of superior sanctity ; and as infinitely inferior to the Maha-
yanika Buddhas, such as Sakya and his six great predecessors. We have, however,
multitudes even of this highest degree ; and, besides, the title belongs not only to
the supreme Manushi Tathagatas, but also to all the Dhyams indiscriminately.
Upon the whole, then, it seems peculiarly desirable, in the present state of our
information, to keep a steady eye upon the authoritative assertion of the old
scriptures, that Sakya is the seventh, and last, of the Buddhas. Why seven have
been selected for such especial honour it seems impossible to explain on historical
grounds. Four of them belong to the present cycle of ages thence called the
golden (tra or Bhadra Kalpa : the three first to the precedent Kalpa. A Kalpa is
an indefinite period, and I think it may be safely asserted that all of the so-called
mortal Buddhas save the last are mythological shadows. At all events it has
frequently occurred to me to doubt the historical existence of Sakya's six prede-
cessors; for I have not failed to remark that while the Buddhist writings make
ample mention of Sakya's births (505), sayings, and doings, and while they ascribe
to him the effectual authorship of all the scriptural authorities of the sect, these
writings are nearly silent with respect to the origin and actions of the six Bud-
dhas who went before him ; nor are any doctrines or dogmas referred to them in
the authorities in question. To go farther into this matter would lead me beyond
the bounds I have prescribed to myself on the present occasion. What I have
said will suffice to shew why the catalogue of Buddhas has been so long withheld,
and perhaps would justify the withholding of it still. In the forthcoming
scriptures the form perpetually occurs ' so said Sakya,' and this is the reason why
the works are ascribed to him, though they took their written shape from his
favourite disciples Kasyapa, Ananda, and Upali.
*I have this list before me extracted from the Samadhi Raja ; but I do not think
it worth while1 to add it to the lists already given.
LIST OF BUDDHIST WORKS.
33
LIST OP TATHAGATAS, COMPILED FROM THE LAEITA VISTARA, KRIYA 8ANGKAHA
AND RAKSHA BHAGAVATI.
LALITA
VISTARA, 1ST SECTION.
1 Padmottara.
29 Satyadharmavipulakirttl
2 Dharauaketu.
£0 Tishya.
3 Dipankara.
31 Pusbya.
4 Gunaketu.
32 Lokasundara.
5 Mabakara.
33 Yi-ti'rnabheda.
6 Risliideva.
24 Ratnalrirtti.
7 Siifcejas.
35 Ugratejas.
8 Saiyakelu.
3(> Brab mat ej as.
9 Vajrasanhata.
37 Sugbosha.
10 Sanalhilbu.
38 Supusbpa.
11 Ileniavama.
39 Sumanojuaghosba.
12 Atyuchchagaml.
40 Sucheshtanipa.
13 Pravarasagara.
41 Prahasitanetra.
14 Pushpaketu.
42 Gunarasi.
15 Varariipa.
43 Meghaswara.
16 Sulochana.
44 Sundaravarna.
17 Risbigupta.
45 Ayustejas.
18 Jinavaktra.
40 Salilagajagami.
19 Unnata.
47 Lokabhilashita.
20 Pushpita.
48 Jitasatru.
21 Urnatejas.
49 Sanipujita.
22 Pushkala.
£0 Vipasyi'.*
23 Sunxsmf.
51 Sikhi.*
24 Mangala.
52 Yiswabhii.*
25 Sudarsana.
53 Krakutsanda."
28 Mahasinhatejas.
54 Kanakamuni.*
27 Sthitabud :Lidatta.
55 Kasyapa.*
28 VasantagandM.
50 Sakyamuni.*
LALITA
VISTARA, 13TH SECTION.
67 — 1 Amoghadarsi.
00 — 10 radmayoni.
68 — 2 Yairochana.
67 — 11 Sarvabhibhii. (See No.
69 — 3 Dundubhfswara.
68—12 Sagara.
60 — 4 Lharmeswara.
09—13 Padmagarbha.
61 — 5 Samantadarsi.
70 — 14 Salendraraja.
62 — 6 Mabarcbiskandbi.
71—15 Pushpita. (See No. 20.)
63 — 7 Dharmadhwaja.
72 — 16 Yasodatta.
64 — 8 Jn 'uaketu.
73 — 17 Jnanameru.
65 — 9 Ratnasikhi.
74—18 Satyadarsi.
' The seven famous mortal Buddhas.
34
LIST OF BUDDHIST WORKS.
75—19 Nagadatta. 85—29 Sinhaketu.
76—20 Atyuckchagaini. (See No. 12) 86—30 Gunagradhari.
77 — 21 Mahavyuha.
78—22 Rasmiraj.
79—23 Sakyamuni. (See No. 56.)
80—24 Indraketu.
81 — 25 Suryanana.
82—26 Sumati.
83—27 Nagabhiblni.
84—28 Bhaiskajyaraj.
87—31 Kasyapa. (See No. 55.)
88—32 Arcliihketu.
89—33 Akskobhyaraj.
90—34 Tagarasikba.
91 — 35 Sarvagandhi.
92_36 Mahapradipa.
93—37 Padmottara (See No. 1.)
94—38 Dharmaketu. (See No. 2.)
LALITA VISTAEA, 20TH SECTION.
95 — 1 Vimalaprabhasa.
93— 2 Ratnarchih.
97 — 3 Pusbpavalivanarajikusumitabbijna.
98 — 4 Obandrasuryajibuiikaraprabba.
99 — 5 Gunarjaprabhasa.
100— 6 Ratnayashti.
101 — 7 Meghakutabhigarjitaswara.
102 — 8 Ratnacbbatrabbyudgatavabbasa.
103 — 9 Samantadarsi.
104—10 Ganendra.
KRIYA SANGEAHA.
105— 1 Vairocbana.*t (See No. 58.)
108 — 2 Mabosbuisba.
107 — 3 Sitatapatrosbuisba.
108— 4 Tejorasi.
109 — 5 Yijayosbmsba.
110 — 6 Vikiranoslmfsba.
111 — 7 Udgatosbuisba.
112 — 8 Mabodgatosbuisba.
113_9 Vijayosbnisba. (See No. 163.)
114—10 Aksbobbya. (See No. 85.)
115 — 11 Vajrasatwa.f
116— 12 Vajrai-aja.
117—13 Vajraraga.
118—14 Vajrasadbu.
133—29 Yajrasandbi,
119 — 15 Ratnasambhava.
120 — 16 Vajraratna.
121 — 17 Vajrasurya.
122—18 Vajraketu.
123—19 Yajrabasa.
124—20 Amitabba.t
125 — 21 Vajradbarma.
120—22 Yajratiksbna.
127—23 Vajraketu.
128—24 Vajrabbasba.
129-25 Aniogbasiddha.t
103 — 23 Vajrakarma.
131 — 27 Vajraraksba.
132—28 Vajrayaksba.
* Tbis name, although a repetition, is numbered ; because the personage here in-
dicated by the name Vdirochana, is really Vairochana Jratdra, Manjusri. The six
celestial Buddhxs of Nepaul will he recognised in this list; but commenting were end-
less. The six are those marked thus +, Vairochana being assumed to be V. proper, and
not Manjusri.
SKETCH OF BUDDHISM. 35
RAKSHA BHAGAVATI.
134 — 1 Ratnakara. 139 — G Suryainandalaprabbasottama.
135—2 Asokasrf. 140— 7 Ekachkatra.
130—3 Ratnarckik. (See No. 90.) 141— 8 Sarnadkikastyuttarasrf.
137 — 4 Jayendra. 142 — 9 Padmasn.
138—5 Padmottarasrf. (See No. 1.) 143—10 Nandasri.
II. Sketch of Buddhism.
From Bauddka writings of Nepaul.
Soon after my arrival in Nepaul (1821), I began to devise means of procuring
some accurate information relative to Buddhism : for, though the regular investiga-
tion of such a subject was foreign to my pursuits, my respect for science in
general led me cheerfully to avail myself of the opportunity afforded, by my
residence in a Bauddha country, for collecting and transmitting to Calcutta the
materials for such investigation. There were, however, serious obstacles in my
way, arising out of the jealousy of the people in regard to any profanation of
their sacred things by an European, and yet more, resulting from the Chinese notions
of policy adopted by this Government. I nevertheless persevered; and time,
patience, and dexterous applications to the superior intelligence of the chief minis-
ter, at length rewarded my toils.
My first object was to ascertain the existence or otherwise of Bauddha scriptures
in Nepaul; and to this end I privately instituted inquiries in various directions,
in the course of which the reputation for knowledge of an old Bauddka residing
in tke city of Patan, drew one of my people to his abode. This old man assured
me that Nepaul contained many large works relating to Buddhism ; and of some
of these he gave me a list. When we became better acquainted, he volunteered
to procure me copies of them. His list gradually enlarged as his confidence increa-
sed ; and at length, chiefly through his kindness, and his influence with his
brethren in the Bauddha faith, I was enabled to procure and transmit to Cal-
cutta a large collection of important Bauddha scriptures.*
Meanwhile, as the Pdtna Bauddha seemed very intelligent, and my curiosity was
excited, I proposed to him (about 1823) a set of questions, which I desired he
woulel answer from his boohs. He did so ; and these questions anel answers form
the text of this paper. Having in his answers quoted sundry slokas in proof of his
statements ; and many of the scriptures whence these were taken being now in
my possession, I was tempted to try the truth of his quotations. Of that, my
research gave me in general satisfactory proof. But the possession of the books
led to questions respecting- their relative age anel authority ; anel, trieel by this
test, the Bauddha's quotations were not always so satisfactory. Thus one step
* Nearly all were eventually procured, chiefly, and in tke first place solely, I'm' Cal-
cutta. Tkey were deposited lirst with the Librarian of the College of Foi t William,
then with the Asiatic Society, but were I'm- years utterly neglected, and still are so I
fancy; so also the copies sent to London anel Oxford. Those sent to France met with
a far different reception ; see Burnouf.
36 LIST OF BUDDHIST WORKS.
led to anoth3r, until I comaivei the ilia of drawing' up, with the aid of my old
friend und his booln, a sketch of tlu terminology and general disposition of the
external parts of Bilihism, in the bjlisf that sum a sketch, though but imper-
fectly executed, would be of some assistance to such of my countrymen as, with
the books only before them, might be disposed to enter into a full and acuu\*te
investigation of this almost unknown subject.
When, however, I conceived that design, I little suspected where it would lead
me; I began ere long to feel my want of languages, and (to confess the truth) of
patience, and almost looked back with a sigh to tbe tolerably full and tolerably
accurate account of Bud Ihism whic h I hael obtained so long ago, and with little
comparative labour, from my old frien d's answers to my queiies. I also saw cer-
tain notices of Buldhism coming from time to tim e before the world, ushered by
the talents and industry of Klaproth anel Remusat; and, so far as I had opportunity
to learn what these notices contained, it seemed that the answers to my ques-
tions furnished much ample r and more accurate views of the subject than these
distinguished men could extract from their limited sources of information.
I add here a very considerable list of the Baiiddlta scriptures in general, extracted
forme from those still existing in Nepaul, without further observation on it than
that its accuracy may be relied on, and that it s contents are so far from being local
to Nepaul, that the largest portion of the books neither are, nor ever were pro-
curable in this valley.
The Bauddhast were used, in old time, to insert at the end of any particular
work, lists of the names of many of their sacred wr itings; and to this usage of
theirs am I indebted for the large catalogue which I have obtained.
LIST OP SANSKRIT BAUDDHA WORKS.
1. PURANAS OR EXOTERIC WORKS.
1 Satasahasrika Prajna Paramita.
2 Pancha Vinsati Sahasrika Prajna Paramita.
3 Ashtadasa Sahasrika Prajna Paramita.
4 Ashta Sahasrika Prajna Paramita.
5 Sapta Sati Prajna Paramita.
6 Prajna Paramita Vyakhya.
7 Ganda Vyuha.* Bhadrachari.
8 Dasa Bhumeswara.
9 Samadhi Raja.f
10 Lankavatara.
II Saddharma Pundarika Bhadrachari.
12 Lalita Vistara.
13 Tathagata Guhyaka, or Guhya Samadhi (Tantra).
14 Suvarna Prabhasa.
* Ascribed to Arya Sanga, and teaches the Yogacharya branch of the Mahayana.
tThis book and the Buddhavatamsaka and the Ratnakiita are works aserib«d
to Nagarjuna, a transcendentalist after whom the western barrier mountain of the Val -
ley of Nepaul is named.
LIST OF BUDDHIST WORKS.
37
1*5 Mahavastuavadana.
1(3 Divyavad.ina.
17 Satakavadana.
1 8 Bkadrakalpavadana.
19 Asokavadana.
20 Vicliitra Karnikiivadana.
21 Dwavinsatyavadana.
22 Rataamalavadana, or Ratnavadana
23 Avadana Kalpalata.
24 Sugatavadana.
25 Dkarnia Koska.
26 Dkarma Sangraka.
27 Vinaya Sutra4
28 Makayana Sutra.
29 Makayana Siitralankara.
30 Gosringa Vyakkyana.
31 Salackakravadana.
32 Jatakavadana.
33 Jataka Mala '
34 Maka Jataka Mala.
35 Swayambkii Purana Kalpa.
36 Swayambkii Purana Mahata.
37 Swayambkii Purana Madkyama.
38 Swayambkii Purana
39 Karanda Vyiika.
40 Gunakaranda Vyiika.
41 Sukkavati Vyiika.
42 Karuna Pundarika.
43 Lalita Vistara, or Tatkagata Janmavadana.
44 Laukika Lankavatara.
45 C baity a Makatmya.
46 Kalpadrumavadana
Samaj ataka. Kinnarij ataka
Dipankaravastu. Birkiisavadana.
Sardvilak irnavadana.
Opakkadh avadana.
Barikavad
Rasktra Palavadana.
, Birkiisavadana.
Kinnarijataka.
Bodki Ckaryavatara.
Sapta Kurnarik ivadana.
Durgati Parirshodkana.
Akortitri vrata.
Kartika Makatmya.
Ckaitya Pungava.
Suchandravakina.
Viswantaraj ataka.
Manickiiravadana.
Kavikumaravadana.
X Only trace of Vinaya eo nomine, though this be one grand division of the book*
of the Ceylonese and Tibetans. But Burnouf I think observes that the Vinaya i la..
of books in those places is represented by the Avadana, its equivalent in Nepaul.
38 LIST OF BUDDHIST WORKS.
Uposhadhavadana.
47 Dharma Kosha Vyakhya.
48 Avadana Sarasaniniuchaya Suinagadhavadana.
Sahakopadesavadana.
Kapisavadana.
Kathinavadana.
Pindapatravadana.
49 Vratavadana Mala Nandimukka.
Sugkoskavadana.
Dhimatyavadana.
Sringabheri, &c.
50 Anumana kkanda.
51 Adikarrna pradipa.
52 Sadkana yuga Tippani.
53 Manju Sri Parajika.*
54 Vajra Satwa Parajika.
55 Lokeswara Parajika.
56 Okhando Mrityulata.
57 Suvarnavarnavadana.
58 Tara, Satanama.
59 Buddha Siksha Samuchchaya.
60 Pancha Rakska.
61 Buddhokta Sansaramaya.
62 Lakska Chaitya Vratanusansa.
63 Pratimoksha Sutra.
64 Vajra Siichi.
65 Buddha Charita Kavya.
66 Gautama Kavya.
67 Punya Pratisaha Kavya.
68 Lokeswara Sataka Kavya.
69 Sragdkara Kavya.
70 Vidagdkaruukhamandana Kavya.
2. TANTRAS OR ESOTERIC WORKS.f
71 Pramodya Makayuga Tantra. 108 Vajravfra Tantra.
72 Paramartka Seva Tantra. 109 Vajra Satwa Tantra.
73 Pindi Krama Tantra. 110 Marichi Tantra.
74 Samputodbhava Tantra. Ill Tara, Tantra.
75 Hevajra Tantra. 112 Vajradhatu Tantra.
76 Buddha Kapala Tantra. 113 Virnalaprabha Tantra.
77 Samvara Tantra, or Sanivarodya. 114 Manikarnika Tantra.
*Nos. 53, 54, and 55 are Vinaya as to matter. Gogerly says 52 related to the law fo
expulsion from the congregation.
fSee Asiatic Researches, vol. v., p. 62 and note.
LIST OF BUDDHIST
78 Varahi Tanira, or Varahi Kalpa.
79 Yogambara Tantra.
80 Dakini Jala Tantra.
81 Sukla Yamari Tantra.
82 Krishna Yamari Tantra.
83 Pita Yamari Tantra.
84 Rakta Yamari Tantra.
85 Syama Yamari Tantra.
86 Kriya Sangraha Tantra.
87 Kriya Kan la Tantra.
83 Kriya Sagara Tantra.
89 Kriya Kalpa Druma Tantra.
90 Kriyarnava Tantra.
91 Abhidanottara Tanira.
92 Kriya Samuchchaya Tantra.
93 Sadhana Mala Tantra.
94 Sadhana Samuchchaya Tantra.
95 Sadhana Sangraha Tantra.
90 Sadhana Ratna Tantra.
97 Sadhana Pariksha Tantra.
9S Sadhana Kalpalata Tantra.
99 Tatwa Jnana Siddhi Tantra.
100 Jnana Siddhi Tantra.
101 Guhya Siddhi Tantra.
102 Udyana Tantra.
103 Nagarjuna Tantra.
104 Yogapitha Tantra.
105 Pithavatara Tantra.
WORKS.
39
115 Trilokvavijaya Tantra.
110 Sampiita Tantra.
117 Marma Kalika Tantra.
118 Kuru Kula Tantra.
119 Bhiita Damara.
120 Kala Chakra Tantra.
121 Yogini Tantra.
122 Yogini Sanchara Tanira.
123 Yogini Jala Tantra.
124 Yogambarapitha Tantra.
125 Uddamara Tantra.
12 I Vasundhara Sadhana Tantra.
127 Nairatma Tantra.
128 Dakarnava Tantra.
129 Kriya Sara Tantra.
130 Yamantaka Tanira.
131 Manju Sri Kalpa Tantra.
132 Tantra Samuchchaya Tantra.
133 Kriya Vatansa Tantra.
134 Tantra Sloka Sangraha.
135 Hayagriva Tantra.
136 Sankirna Tantra.
137 Namasangiti Vyakhya, Tantra.
138 Amrita Karnika nama Sangiti Tika.
139 Gddhotpada nama Sangiti Tika.
140 Maya jala Tantra.
141 Jnanodaya Tantra.
142 Vasanta Tilaka Tantra.
103 Kalavira Tantra, or Ohanda Roshana. 143 Nispanna Yogambara Tantra.
Pancha Buddha Dharani
— Pratyangira Dharani,
Saptavara Dharani, ^Yit]l
hundreds more, the work
being a collection of them
all.
N. B. — Names on the right are portions of the work written opposite them
on the left ; priorly they had been treated as separate works.
The whole of the above are classed under the two important heads of Exoteric
and Esoteric, the subdivisions not being noted. This list has been corrected since
the paper to which it was originally attached was written.
In a clever paper in the first and second numbers of the Calcutta Quarterly
Oriental Magazine, (Review of the Bombay Literary Transactions), it is said
that one of the distinctions between Jainisin and Buddhism is, that the Jaina
statues are all naked, and the Bauddha statues all clothed. The pictures were
sent to prove that this notion was false. The Bauddha images are called Digam-
107 Maha Kala Tantra.
144 Dharani Sanjrraha.
40 THE BUDDHIST TRIAD.
bora* a name heretofore fancied to be peculiar to Jainism ; this is another error,
and were this the place for dissertation, I could bring forward many other pre-
sumptions in favour of the notion that the Jainas are sectarian Bauddhas,\ who
dissented from their Bauddha brethren merely in carrying- to a gross excess, and in
promulgating publicly, certain dangerous dogmas, which the more prudent Buddhists
chose to keep veiled from all but the initiated. The Nepaul Buddhists are very
jealous of any intrusion into their esoteric dogmas and symbols; so much so, that
though I have been for seven years enquiring after these things, my old Vajra
Achdnja friend only recently gave me a peep at the esoteric dogmas ; and my
CJiitrakdra, (Bauddha though he be,) has only within these last twelve months
brought me some esoteric pictures : nor probably should I have got at these
secret things at all, if I had not been able to examine the Bauddha books, in some
small degree, myself; and if a B/iotii/a had not put into my hands a picture
containing one of these naked saints. With these decisive means of questioning
in my power, I at last got my Bauddha assistants to draw up the veil of the
sanctuary, to bring me copies of the naked saLits, and to tell me a little of
the naked doctrines.
Every part of each image is significant ; the differences between the five
are marked, first, by the different position of the hands (which is called the
mudrd) ; secondly, by the variety of the supporters, called vdhanas; thirdly, by
the vaiiely of the cognizances or chinas placed between the supporters ; and
fourthly (where painting and colours are used), by difierence of colour. Vai-
rochana's appropriate colour is white ; Akshobhyds, blue ; Ratna-Sambhava,s1
yellow, or golden ; Amitdblia's, red ; and Amot/ha-Siddha's, green.J
There are a few matters connected with the following sketch of Buddhism
which it may be advisable to state here ; and in the first rank stands the authority
upon which I have assigned the meaning of intellectual essence to the word Bud-
dha, and that of material essence to the word Dharma. The Bauddhas define
the words thus : ' Bodhandtmaka iti Buddha ; Dhdran-dtmaka iti Dharma.'
About the former of these definitions there can be no difficulty; there may con-
cerning the latter. To the word Dhdrana, or holding, containing, sustaining (from
the root dlirl), I have assigned a material sense ; first, because it is opposed to
bodhdna; secondly, because the goddess Dharma, the prdvrlttika personification
of this principle, is often styled, in the most authentic books, Prakrit estcari
4 the material goddess,' or ' goddess of matter ;' and thirdly, because this goddess
is, (under the names Dharma, Pra.txa, Abya Tatja, etc.) in very many passages
of old Bauddha works, described as the maferial cause of all things; conform-
ably, indeed, with that bias towards materialism, which our heretofore scanty
knowledge of Buddhism has led us to assign to the Saitjata faith.
*See J.R.A.S. ii. 1, 140. f See Digambar and Yogambar.
% For the positions of these Buddhas in Chaitya temples see further on j Akshobhya
is enshrined on the east side, Ratna Sambhava on the south, Amitabha on the west,
and Anio/ha Siddha on the north. Vairochana is seldom found, but if he be, his
station is immediately to the right of Akshobhya, Amogha Siddha has always a canopy
of snakes. For Nagapiija in Nepanl see further on.
BUDDHIST COSMOGONY. 4 1
Sangha, the third member of the Triad, belongs not to the exalted state of
ninrWi, in which no sect of Bauddhas admits more than two principles of all
things, or mind and matter, Buddha and Dharma. Sangha is defined Samuddyi
dtmaka iti Sangha, ' the multitudinous essence ;' because multitude is held to be
as strong a characteristic of pravrUH, or ' the palpable world,' as unity is of the
world of nirvrltti, or 'abstraction.'
In note 31, I have distinctly rejected the fifth order of Bandgas* or Vajra
Aehdrga*, in opposition to my old Bauddha friend's statement in the text of the
Sketch. There can be no doubt that my friend is mistaken : for in many high
authorities, the four original and true orders of Bandgas are called by the collec-
tive name of the Chatur Varna, and are therein described without mention of
the Vajra Achdrgas. It may serve to explain my friend's statement to tell
you that he is himself a Vajra Achdrga; and that as the genuine monachism
of Buddhism has long since passed away in Nepaul, sundry local books have
been composed here by Vajra Achdrgas, in which they have made their own modern
order coequal with the four ancient orders ; and my old friend would hold these
modern Nepaul books sufficient warrant for the rank ascribed to Ms own class.
I have lately spoken to him on this subject, and he has confessed that there is
no old authority for his fifth order of Bandgas. In my note I have endeavoured
carefully to separate Buddhism as it is (in Nepaul) and Buddhism as it ought to be,
quoad this point of classification. If you look into Kirkpatrick's and Buchanan's
works on Nepaul, you will see how they have been puzzled with the difference of
things as they are from what they ought to be, in those casual and erroneous
hints which they have afforded on the subject of Buddhism.
In note 15, I have stated that the Kdrmikas and Ydtnikas entertained tolerably
just views on the grand subject of free-will and necessity; and I believe I am
therein essentially correct : for how otherwise are we to understand their confes-
sion of faith, ' the actions of a man's prior births are his destiny?' Exclude the
metempsychosis, which is the vehicle of the sense of this passage, and we have our
old adage, ' Conduct is fate :' a law of freedom surely.
Still, were I cross-examined, I might be forced to confess, that the ideas which
the Kdrmikas and Ydtnikas entertain of free-will, seem to resemble rather the
qualifications of our Collins and Edwards, than the full and absolute freedom of
Clarke and the best European philosophers.
The Kdrmikas and Ydtnikas seem to have been impressed with the fact of
man's free-will, but to have been perplexed in reconciling such a notion with
the general spirit and tendency of the old Sirdbhdvika philosophy. But in
the result, the Kdrmikas and Ydtnikas seem to have adhered to free-will, though
perhaps in the qualified sense above mentioned.
Question I.
How and when was the world created ?
*Bandya is the original and correct form of the Chinese Bonze and Mongolian
Bandida, as Arhata or Arhanta is of the Indo-Chinese Rahatun.
42 BUDDHIST COSMOGONY.
Answer.
According to the Sambhu Purdna, in the beginning all was void (sunya). The
first light that was manifest was the word Aum ; and from this Aum the alphabet
was produced — called Mahd Varna, the letters of which are the seeds of the
universe. (See note 1.) In the Guna Kdranda Vyuha it is written, when
nothing- else was, Sambhu was ; that is the self-existent (Swayamblm) ; and
as he was before all, he is also called A'di-Buddha. He wished from one to
become many, which desire is denominated Prapia. Buddha and Prajna united
became Prajna Upaya, as Siva Sakti, or Brahma Mava. (See note 2.) In
the instant of conceiving this desire, five forms or beings were produced, called
the five Buddhas (see note 3), whose names are as follows : Vairochaxa,
Akshobhya, Ratna-Sambhava, Amitabha, Amogha-Siddha. Each of these
Buddhas, again, produced from himself, by means of Dhydna, another being called
his Bodhi-Satioa, or son. Vairochana produced Samanta-Bhabra; Akshobhya,
Vajra-Pani; Batna-Sambhava, Ratna-Pani; Amitabha, Padma-Pani;
and Amogha-Siddha, Viswa-Pani.
Of these five Bodhi-Sahcas, four are engrossed with the worship of Sambhu
(SwayambhiiJ, and nothing more is known of them than their names; the fifth,
Padma-Pani, was engaged by Sambhu's command, in creation (see note 4) ; and
having by the efficacy of Sambhu's Dhydna, assumed the virtues of the three
Gunas, he created Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa, and delegated to them res-
pectively, creation, preservation, and destruction. Accordingly, by Padrua-Pani's
commands, Brahma set about creating all things ; and the Chatur-yoni (or ovipa-
rous, viviparous, etc.,*) came into existence by Brahma. The creation of
Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesa by Padma-Pani, is confirmed by the sloka (see note
5), the meaning of which is, Kamali (Padma-Pani,) produced Brahma for crea-
ting, Vishnu for preserving, and Mahesa for destroying. And the creation of
Brahma is six-sorted, viz., Deva, Daitya, Mdnusha, etc. ; and, for the Devas,
Brahma made heaven ; and for the Daityas, Pdtdla ; and the four remaining lands
he placed between these two regions and upon the earth.
With respect to the mansions (Bhuvanas) of the universe, it is related, that
the highest is called Agnishtha Bhuvand ; and this is the abode of Adi-Buddha.
And below it, according to some accounts, there are ten ; and according to others,
thirteen Bhuvanas (see note G) ; named, Pramdditd, Tl'mald, Prabhdkari, Ar< hish-
mati, Sudurjayd, Abhimukhi, Durangamd, AcJiald, Sddhumati, Dharma-megha (x),
Samanta-prabhd, Nirdpamd, Jnydnavati (xiii).f These thirteen Bhuvanas are
the work of Adi-Buddha: they are the B6dhi- Sat ica Bhuvanas ; and whoever is
a faithful follower of Buddha will be translated to one of these mansions after
death.
* By et ctetera always understand more Brdhmanorum.
t Aknishtha or Agnishtha is not named in the Dasa Bhuvana, and neither therein nor
here is any mention made of the abodes of the five Dhyani Buddhas ; and not Aehala
but Samanta Bhadra is the tenth Bhuvana. Nirupama, Aehala, and Jnyanavati are the
three extra Bhuvanas.
BUDDHIST COSMOGONY. 43
Below the thirteen BddJd-Satica Bhuvanas are eighteen Bhuvanas, called col-
lectively Rupyavachara, These are subject to Brahma, and are named individ-
ually : Brahnia-kayika, Brahma-piirohita, Brahina-prashadya, Maha Brahmana,
Paritabha, Apramanabha, Abhaswara, Parita-subhd, Subhakiskna, Anabhraka,
Puuya-prasava, Yrikat-phiila, Arangi-satwa, Avriha, Apaya, Sudrisha, Sudarsana,
and Sumiikha. Pious worshippers of Brahma shall go to one of these eighteen
Bhuvanas after death.
And below the eighteen mansions of Brahma, are six others subject to Vishnu,
called collectively Kdmdvachard, and separately as follows : Chatiir-Mahd-rdja-
Kdyikd, Trayastrinsd, Tushita, Yamd, Nirmdnavati, Paranirmitd-Vasavarti. And
whosoever worships Vishnu with pure heart shall go to one of these.
And below the six Bhuvanas of Vishnu are the three Bhuvanas of Maha-
deva, called generally Arupyavachard, and particularly as follows : Abhdgd-
Ritya-yatndpagd, Vgnyd-yatndpagd, Akinchanya-yatndpagd, and these are the
heavens designed for pious Siva-Mdrgis. Below the mansions enumerated, are
Indra Bhuvana, Yama Bhuvana, Surya Bhuvana, and Chandra Bhuvana ; together
with the mansions of the fixed stars, of the planets, and various others which occupy
the places down to the Agni Bhuvana, also called Agni-kunda. And below Agni-
kunda is Vayu-kunda; and below T ^ayu-kunda is Prithvi, or the earth ; and on the
earth are seven Divipas, Jambu Dwipa, etc. ; and seven Sdgai'as or seas, and eight
Par vat as or mountains (see note 7), Sumcru Parvata, etc. And below Prithvi is
Jala-kunda, or the world of waters ; and the earth is on the waters as a boat. And
helow the Jdla-kunda are seven Pdtdlas, as Dharani, etc. : six of them are the
abodes of the Daityas; and the seventh is Naraka, consisting of eight separate
abodes : and these eight compose the hell of sinners ; and from the eighteen Bhu-
vanas of Brahma down to the eight chambers of Naraka, all is the work of
Manjusrf. Manjusri is by the Bauddhas esteemed the great architect, who con-
structs the mansions of the world by Adi-Buddha's command, as Padma-Pani,
by his command, creates all animate things.
Thus Manjusri (see note 8) is the Visva-karma of the Bauddhas ; and is also the
author of the sixty-four Vidyds.
Question II.
"What was the origin of mankind ?
Answer.
It is written in the narrative portion of our Tantras, that originally the earth
was uninhabited. In those times the inhabitants of Abhdsumrd Bhuvana (which
is one of the Bhuvanas of Brahma) used frequently to visit the earth, and thence
speedily to return to Abhdsward. It happened at length, that, when a few of these
beings, who, though half males and half females, had never yet, from the purity of
their minds, conceived the sexual desire, or even noticed their distinction of sex,
came, as usual, to the earth, Adi-Buddha suddenly created in them so violent a
longing to eat, that they ate some of the earth, which had the taste of almonds,
and by eating it they lost their power of flying back to their Bhuvana, and so
44 BUDDHIST COSMOGONY.
they remained on the earth. They were now constrained to eat the fruits of the
earth for sustenance ; and from eating these fruits they conceived the sexual
desire, and began to associate together : and from that time, and in that manner,
the origin of mankind commenced from the union of the sexes. (See note '.». )*
When the beings above-mentioned came last from Abhdsward, Maha Sainvata
was their leader, and he was the first king of the whole earth.
In another Tantra it is written that Adi-Buddha is the immediate creator of
all things in heaven and earth.
With respect to time, we conceive the Satya-yuya to be the beginning of time,
and the Kali-yuga the end of it : and the duration of the four yugas, the par-
culars of which are found in the Brahmanical scriptures, have no place in our's
in which it is merely written that there are four yugas ; and that in the first, m< n
lived 80,000 years; in the second, 10,000; in the third 1,000: and the fourth
is divided into four periods; in the first of which, men will live 100 years; in
the second, fifty years ; in the third, twenty-five years ; and in the fourth, when
the close of the Kali-yuga is approaching, seven years only ; and their stature will
be only the height of the thumb ; and then all things will be destroyed, and Adi-
Buddha alone remain : and this period of four gagas is a Pralaya. Adi-Buddha
will then again create the four yugas, and all things else to live in their dura-
tion, which when completed, all things will be again destroyed, and thus there
will be seventy-one pralayas, or completions of the four yugas, when Malta Pra-
laya will arrive. How many revolutions of the four yugas {i.e. how many pra-
layas) have now passed, and how many remain to revolve, is nowhere written.
Question III.
What is matter, and what spirit ?
Answer.
Body (see note 10), which is called Sarira and Delia, was produced from the
five elements ; and soul, which is called prdna and jiva, is a particle of the essence
of Adi-Buddha. Body, as created out of the elements, perisheth : soul, as a par-
ticle of the divine spirit, perisheth not ; body is subject to changes — to be fat
and lean, etc. ; soul is unchangeable. Body is different in all animals ; soul is alike
in all, whether in man or any other creature. But men have, besides prdna, the
faculty of speech, which other animals have not ; according to the sloka, of
which the meaning is this: " Delia is derived from the five Bltutas, and Jiva from
the Angas of Swayambhu" (See note 11.)
Question IV.
Is matter an independent existence, or derived from God ?
Answer.
Body, according to some, depends upon the inhaling and exhaling of the Prdna-
Vdyu; and this inhalation and exhalation of the breath is by virtue of the soul
(prdna), which virtue, according to some, is derived from God, and according to
* See Tumour's and Csoma de Korijs versions of this legend, in the Journal of
the Asiatk tioritty of Bengal.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 45
others (see note 12), is inherent in itself: there is much diversity of opinion on
this subject. Some of the Buddha-mdrgis contend that deha (the body) is Swd-
bhdvdka; i.e., from the copulation of males and females, new bodies proceed:
and they ask who makes the eyes, the flesh, the limbs, etc. of the fcetus in the
mother's womb ? Swdbhdva ! And the thorns of the desert, who points them P
Swdbh&va ! And the timidity of the deer kind, and the fury of the ravenous
beasts, whence are they? from Swdbhdva!
And this is a specimen of their reasoning- and proofs, according to a sloka of
the Buddha-Chaiita-Kavya. (See note 13.) Some again say, that deha and ean-
sdra are Aiswarika (see note 14), i. e., produced by Iswara, or Adi-Buddha,
according to another sloka.
Some again call the world and the human body Kdrmika, i. e., that Karma is
the cause of this existence of deha and sansdra ; and they liken the first deha
to a field (kshetra), and works, to a seed. And they relate, that the first body
which man received was created solely by Adi-Buddha ; and at that time works
affected it not : but when man put off his first body, the next body which he re-
ceived was subject to Karma, or the works of the first body (see note 15) ; and
so was the next, and all future ones, until he attained to Mukti and Mulcsh a ; and
therefore they say, that whoever would be free from transmigration must pay his
devotions to Buddha, and consecrate all his worldly goods to Buddha, nor ever aftt r
suffer such things to excite his desires. And, in the Buddha-Charita-Kavva it
is written, that with respect to these points, Sakya expressed the following
opinion : " Some persons say that Sansdra is Sivdbhdvaka, some that it is Kdrmika,
and some that it is Aiswarika and Atmaka; for myself, I can tell you nothing
of these matters. Do you address your meditation to Buddha; and when you
have attained Bodhijndna, you will know the truth yourselves."
Question V.
What are the attributes of God ?
Answer.
His distinctive attributes are many; one of which is, that he is Panchqjndndtmaka
(see note 16), or, in his essence are five sorts of fndna, possessed by him alone
and which are as follows: first, Suvisuddha-Dharma-Dhdiuja ; second, Adarsanaja :
third, Pratyavekshanaja ; fourth, Sdmtaja; fifth, Armshthdnqja. The first created
beings, Vairochana, etc., were in number five, owing to these five Jndnas; and
in each of these five Buddhas is one of the jndnas. Another of Adi-Buddha's
attributes is the faculty of individualizing, and multiplying himself, and again
individualizing himself at pleasure : another is, possessing the qualities of passion
and clemency.
Question VI.
Is the pleasure of God derived from action or repose ?
Answee.
There are two modes of considering this subject : first, according to nirvritti; and
secondly, according to pracritti.
46 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Nirvritti (see note 17) is this : to know the world to be a mere semblance, unreal,
and an illusion ; and to know God to be one : and Pravritti is the opposite of this
sublime science, andis the practice and notions of ordinary men. Therefore,
according to nirvritti, Adi-Buddha is the author and creator of all things, without
whom nothing can be done ; whose care sustains the world and its inhabitants ;
and the moment he averts his face from them they became annihilated, and nothing
remains but himself. But some persons, who profess nirvritti, contend that the
world with all it containeth is distinct from Adi-Buddha : yet the wise know this
to be an error. (See note 18.)
Adi-Buddha, though he comprehends all living things, is yet one. He is the
soul, and they are but the lirnbs and outward members, of this monad Such
i> nirvritti, which, being deeply studied, is found to be unity; but pravritti,
which is multiplicity, may be distinguished in all things. And in this latter
view of pravritti, Adi-Buddha may be considered a king, who gives orders; and
the five Buddhas, and other divinities of heaven, his ministers, who execute his
orders; and we, poor mortals, his subjects, servants, and slaves. In this way the
business of the world is distributed among the deities, each having his proper
functions; and Adi-Buddha has no concern with it. Thus the five Buddhas
give mukti (see note 19) and moksha to good men : Brahma by the orders of
Paduta-Paui, performs the part of creator ; Vishnu, by the same orders, cherishes
all beings ; and Maha Deva, by the same orders, destroys ; Yama takes cogni-
zance of sins, and punishes sinners ; Indra and Varuna give rain ; and the sun
and moon fructify the earth with their rays ; and so of the rest.
Question VII.
Who is Buddha ? Is he God, or the creator, or a propbet or saint ; born of
heaven, or of a woman ?
Answeh.
Buddha means, in Sanskrit, 'the wise ;' also, 'that which is known by wisdom ;'
and it is one of the names which we give to God, whom we also call Adi-Bud-
dha, because he was before all, and is not created, but is the creator : and the
Pancha Dhydni Buddhas were created by him, and are in the heavens. Sakya, and
the rest of the seven human Buddhas are earth-born or human. These latter,
by the worship of Buddha, arrived at the highest eminence, and attained Nirvana
Pada (i.e. were absorbed into Adi-Buddha). (See note 20.) We therefore
call tbem all Buddhas.
Question VIII.
What is the reason for Buddha being represented with curled locks ?
Answer.
Adi-Buddha was never seen. He is merely light. (See note 21.) But in the
pictures of Vairochana, and the other Buddhas, we have the curled hair ; and
since in limbs and organs we discriminate thirty-two points of beauty (TakshanasJ,
such as expansion of forehead, blackness of the eyes, roundness of the head, eleva-
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 47
tion of the nose, archedness of the eyebrows ; so also the having curled locks is
one of the points of beauty, and there is no other reason for Buddha's being
represented with curled locks. (See note 22.)
Question IX.
What are the names of the great Buddha? Does the Neicdri language admit
the word Buddha, or any substitute for it? and what is the Bhotiya name
for Buddha ?
Answer.
The names of Adi-Buddha are innumerable : Sarvajna, Sugata, Buddha, Dharma-
Raja, Tathagata, Bhagavan, Samanta-Bhadra, Marajita, Lokajita, Jina, Anadini-
dhana, Adi-Buddha, Xirandhaka, Jnanaikachakshu, Amala, Jnana-Miirti, Vackes-
wara, Maha-Vadi, Vadirata, Vadipuugava, Vadisinha, and Parajata. Vairochana,
and the other five Buddhas, have also many names. Some of Vairochana's are as
follows : Maha-Dipti, Jnana-Jyotish, Jagat-Pravritti, Mahatejas, &c. ; and so of
the other four. Padma-Pani also has many names, as Padina-Pani, Kaniali,
Padma-Hasta, Padma-Kara, Kamala-Hasta, Kamalakara, Kamala-Pani, Arya-
valokiteswara, Aryavalokeswara, Avalokiteswara, and Loka-Xatka* (See note
23.) Many of the above names are intercommunicable between the several persona
to whom they are here appropriated. Buddha is a Sanskrit word, not Neicdri :
the BhoUya names I do not know ; but I have heard they call Sakya Sinha.
Sungi Thuba: Sungi meaning the deity, and Thiibaf his Alaya or Vihdrn.
Question X.
In the opinion of the Banras, did God ever make a descent on earth? if so, how
often ; and what is the Sanskrit and Newdri name of each Acatdra f
An saver.
According to the scriptures of the Bvddhamdrgis, neither Adi-Buddha nor any
of the Pancha Dhydni Buddhas (see note 24), ever made a descent; that is to say
they were never conceived in mortal womb ; nor had they father or mother : but
certain persons of mortal mould have by degrees attained to such excellence of
nature and such Bodhifndna, as to have been gifted with divine wisdom, and to have
taught the Bodhi-charya and Buddhamdrga ; and these were seven, named
Vipasyi, Sikhi, Viswabhii, Krakutchanda, Kanaka muni, Kasyapa, Sakya Sinha.
In the Satya-yuga were three : Vipasyi, who wasborn in Vindumati Niagara, in
the house of Vinduman Raja; Sikhi, in TJrna Desa; and Viswabhii, in Anupama
Desa, in the house of a Kshatriya : in the Trctdyuga, two persons became Budd-
has; one Krakutchandaj in Kskemavati Kagara, in the house of a Brahman; the
other Kanaka Muni, in Subhavati Nagara, in the house of a Brahman : and in
the Dwdpara-yuga, one person named Kasyapa, in Vdrdnasi Nagara, in the house
* We do not find Matsyendra among these synonymes though he be now usually iden-
tified with Padma Pani. For Avalokiteswara see Fahian, p.p. 115-117.
t Sanskiitice Stlnipa, a tomb, temple. But Csoma de Koros gives Sange Thubba as
his name only.
[The name is Sangs-TGyas Thub-pa, from Sang-jay T'ub-pa, and means: 'the Holy
One, the Conqueror.' J.S. ]
•sr=>
I-
48 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
of a Brahman: and in the Kali-yuga* Sakya, then called Sarvartha Siddha
(see note 25), in the house of Suddhodana Raja, a Sdkyavansi, in the city of
Kapilavastu, which is near Gangasagara,f became Buddhas. Besides these
seven, there are many illustrious persons ; but none equal to these. The particular
history of these seven, and of other Buddhas, is written in the Lalita Yistara.
(See note 25.)
Question XI.
How many Avatdras of Buddhas have there been, according to the Lamas ?
Answer.
They agree with us in the worship of the seven Buddhas, the difference in
our notions being extremely small; but the Lamas go further than this and
contend that they themselves are Avatdras. I have heard from my father, that, in
his time, there were five Lamas esteemed divine : the names of three of them I
have forgotten, but the remaining two are called Shamurpa and Karmapa.
Question XII.
Do the Lamas worship the Avatdras recognized by the Newdrs ?
Answer.
The Lamas are orthodox Buddhamdrgis, and even carry their orthodoxy to a
greater extent than we do. Insomuch, that it is said, that Sankara Acharya,}
Siva-Mdrgi, having destroyed the worship of Buddha and the scriptures con-
taining its doctrine in Hindustan, came to Xepaul, where also he effected
much mischief; and then proceeded to Bhot. There he had a conference with
the grand Lama. The Lama, who never bathes, and after natural evacuations
does not use topical ablution, disgusted him to that degree, that he commenced
reviling the Lama. The Lama replied, "I keep my inside pure, although my out-
side be impure ; while you carefully purify yourself without, but are filthy within : "
and at the same time he drew out his whole entrails, and shewed them to San-
kara ; and then replaced them again. He then demanded an answer of Sankara.
Sankara, by virtue of his yoga, ascended into the heavens ; the Lama perceiving
the shadow of Saukara's body on the ground, fixed a knife in the place of the
shadow ; Sankara directly fell upon the knife, which pierced his throat and killed
him instantly. Such is the legend or tale that prevails, and thus we account
for the fact that the Buddhamdrgi practice of Bhot is purer, and its scriptures
more numerous, than ours.
Question XIII.
What is the name of your sacred writings,§ and who is their author ?
* This allotment into four yugas is apochryphal. The three first Buddhas belong to
the penultimate Kalpa, and the four last to the present, or Bhadra Kalpa.
t Near or in Oude, or Rohilkhand, according to other works. Kapila was on
the Bhagirathi, near Kailas, say the Tibetan authorities.
♦He flourished in the ninth century, or about 1,000 years back. This we learn from
the Brahmans, and the date is important as it agrees with the era of that persecution
which led the Southerners to seek protection in Nepanl and Tibet.
§ See pp. 36-39 for a corrected list of the Sanskrit literature of Buddhism.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 49
Answer.
We have nine Purdnas, called " the nine Dharmas." (See note 2G.) A
Parana is a narrative or historical work, containing a description of the rites and
ceremonies of Buddhism, and the lives of our chief Tathagatas. The first Dharma
is called Prajna Parantita, and contains 8,000 slokas. This is a Nydya Sdstra, or
work of a philosophic character, capahle of being understood only by men of
science; the second is named Ganda Vyiika,* of 12,000 slokas, which contains
the history of Sudhana Kumara, who made sixty-four persons his gurus, from
whom he acquired Bodkijndna ; the third, is the Samadhi Raj a, of 3,000 slokas,
in which the nature and value of japa and tapas are explained; the fourth is the
Lankavatara, of 3,000 slokas, in which is written how Havana, lord of Lanka,
having gone to Malayagiri mountain, and there heard the history of the Buddha,
from Sakya Sinha, obtained Bodliijnuna. The fifth, which is called Tathagata
Guhya, is not to be found in Nepaul;** the sixth, is the Saddharma Pundarika
which contains an account of the method of building a chaitya or Buddha-
mandala, and the mode and fruits of worshipping it. (Chaitya is the exclusive name
of a temple dedicated to Adi-Buddha or to the Pancha Dhyani Buddha ; and what-
ever temple is erected to Sakya, or other Manushi Buddhas, is called Kutdydr) : || the
seventh, is the Lalita Vistara, of 7,000 slokas, which contains the histoiy of the several
incarnations of Sakya Sinha Bhagavan,and an account of his perfections in virtue and
knowledge, with some notices of other Buddhas. The eighth, is the Suvarna
Prabha, containing, in 1,000 slokas, an account of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Prithivi;
how they lauded Sakya Sinha Bhagavan ; and how he, in return, gave each of
them what she desired. The ninth, is the Dasa Bhiimeswara, of 2,000 slokas,
containing an account of the ten Bhuvanas of Buddha. All these Purdnas we
received from Sakya Sinha, and esteem them our primitive scriptures because
before the time of Sakya our religion was not reduced to writing, but retained in
memory ; the disadvantages of which latter method being evident to Sakya, he
secured our institutes by writing them. Besides these Puranas, we received
Tantras and Dhdranis from Sakya Sinha. Tantra is the name of those books
in which Mantras and Yantras are written, explanatory of both of which we
have very many works. Three of them are famous : first, Maya Jala, of 16,000
slokas ; second, Kala Chakra, of 0,000 ; third, Sambhii Udaya, of 1,000. The
Dharanis were extracted from the Tantras, and are similar in nature to the Guhya,
or mysterious rites, of the Siva-Margis. A Dharani is never less than eight slokas
or more than 500; in the beginning and middle of which are written the " Vija
Mantra," and at the end, the " Phiil Stotra," or the Mahatmya, i.e., what desire
may be accomplished or what business achieved by the perusal of that Dharani ;
such, for example, as obtaining children — advantage over an enemy — rain — or
merely the approbation of Buddha. There are probably a thousand Dharanis.
*See note at page 137-
** This is a very holy Tantra. It was kept from me long, but at last I got it.
|| Kutagar is the name of the class of temples inferior to Chaityas, as now employed
in Nepaul. Besides the Chaityas, the Nepaulese have temples, dedicated equally to
the Diiminores of the Bavddhas, and to many of the (adopted) deities of the Brahmans.
50 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Question XIV.
What is the cause of good and evil ?
Answer.
When Padina-Pani, having heconie Tri-guna-Atmaka, that is, having assumed
the form of Satyaguna, Rajo-guna, and Tamo-guna, created Brahma, Vishnu, and
Mahesa; then from Satya-guna, arose spontaneously (Swabhavaka), punya or
virtue, and from Tamo-guna, papa or evil, and from Rajo-guna, the mean of the
two, which is neither all good nor all evil : for these three gun as are of such a
quality that good acts, mixed acts, and bad acts, necessarily flow from them. Each
of these Tcarmas or classes of actions is divided into ten species, so that papa is of
ten kinds, first (see note 27) murder ; second, robbery ; third, adultery, which are
called kdyaka or bodily, i. e., derived from Kdija ; fourth, lying ; fifth, secret
slander ; sixth, reviling ; seventh, reporting such words between two persons as
excite them to quarrels ; and these four papas are called vachaka, i. e., derived
from speech ; eighth, coveting another's goods ; ninth, malice ; and tenth, disbelief
of the scriptures and immorality ; and these three are called manasa, i. e., derived
from mdnas ' the mind.' The ten actions opposite to these are good actions ; and
the ten actions, composed, half and half, of these two sorts, are mixed actions.
Question XV.
What is the motive of your good acts — the love of God — the fear of God — or
the desiring of prospering in the world ?
Answer.
The primary motive for doing well, and worshipping Buddha, according to the
scriptures, is the hope of obtaining Mukti and MoJcsha, becoming Nirvana, and
being freed from transmigrations : these exalted blessings cannot be had without
the love of God ; therefore they, who make themselves accepted of God, are the
true saints, and are rarely found; and between them and Buddha there is no
difference, because they will eventually become Buddhas, and will obtain Nirvana
Pada, i. e., mukti (absorption,) and their jyotish (flame, essence), will be absorbed
into the jyotish of Buddha ; and to this degree Sakya and the others of the "Sapta-
Buddha" (see note 28) have arrived, and we call them Buddhas, because, whoever
has reached this state is, in our creed, a Buddha. Those persons who do good
from the fear of hell, and avoid evil from the desire of prospering in the world,
are likewise rarely found, and their degree is much above that of the class of
sinners. Their sufferings in Naraka will be therefore lessened ; but they will be
constrained to suffer several transmigrations, and endure pain and pleasure in
this world, till they obtain Mukti and Moksha.
Question XVI.
Will you answer, in the world to come, to Adi-Buddha for your acts in this
world, or to whom will you answer ? and what rewards for good, and pains for evil,
will you reap in the next world ?
Answer.
How can the wicked arrive at Buddha ? (see note 29.) Their wicked deeds will
hurry them away to Naraka ; and the good-will, by virtue of their good acts, be
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 5 1
transported to the Bhuvanas of Buddha, and will not be there interrogated at
all ; and those who have sometimes done good and sometimes evil, are destined
to a series of births and deaths on earth, and the account of their actions is
kept by Yama Raja.
Question XVII.
Do you believe in the metempsychosis ?
Answer.
Y"es. For it is written in the Jataka Mala, and also in the Lalita Vistara, that
Sakya, after having transmigrated through 501 bodies, obtained Nirvana Pada or
Mukti in the last body : but so long as we cannot acquire Mukti, so long we must
pass through births and deaths on earth. Some acquire Moksha after the first
birth, some after the seventy-seventh, and some after innumerable births. It is no
where written that Moksha is to be obtained after a prescribed number of births ;
but every man must atone for the sins of each birth by a proportionate number of
future births ; and when the sins of the body are entirely purified and absolved,
he will obtain absorption into Adi-Buddka.
Question XVIII.
What and from whence are the Newars, from Hindust'han or Bhot ? (see
note 80,) and what is the word Newar, the name of a country or a people ?
Answer.
The natives of the valley of Nepaul are Newars. In Sanskrit the country is
called Naipala,* and the inhabitants Naipali ; and the words Newar and Newari
are vulgarisms arising from the mutation of p to v, and l to R. Thus too the
word Bandya, the name of the Buddhamargi sect (because its followers make
bandana, i. e., salutation and reverence to the proficients in Bodhijnana), is metam-
orphosed by ignorance into Banra, a word which has no meaning.
Question XIX.
Do the Newars follow the doctrine of caste or not ?
Answer.
As inhabitants of one country they are one — but in regard to caste, they are
diverse.
Question XX.
How many castes are there amongst the Banras ?
Answer.
Banra, according to the true reading, is Bandya, as explained above. According
to our Puranas, whoever has adopted the tenets of Buddha, and has cut off
the lock from the crown of his head, of whatever tribe or nation he be, becomes
thereby a Bandya (see note 31). The Bhotiyas, for example, are Bandyas because
they follow the tenets of Buddha, and have no lock on their heads. The Bandyas
are divided into two classes ; those who follow the Vahya-charya, and those who
* From Ne, 'the sender to Paradise,' who is Swayambhu Adi-Buddha, and pala,
' cherished. ' The Brahmans derive the word Nepaul from Ne or Neyuni, the proper
name of a Patriarch or Muni.
52 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
adopt the Abhyantara-charya — words equivalent to the Grihastha asrama and
I Vairagi asrama of the Brahmanas. The first class is denominated Bhikshu ; the
| second, Vajra Acharya,* The Bhikshu cannot marry; but the Vajra Acharya
is a family man. The latter is sometimes called, in the vernacular tongue of the
Newars, Giibhal, which is not a Sanskrit word. Besides this distinction into
monastic and secular orders, the Bandyasjtre again divided, according to the scrip-
tures, into five classes: first, Arhat; second, Bhikshu; third, Sravaka; fourth,
Chailaka; fifth, Vajra Acharya. The Arhat is he who is perfect himself, and
can give perfection to others ; who eats what is offered to him, hut never asks for
anything. The Bhikshu, is he who assumes a staff and beggar's dish (bhikshari
and pinda patra), sustains himself by alms, and devotes his attention solely to the
contemplation (dhyana) of Adi-Buddha, without ever intermeddling with worldly
affairs. The Sravaka is he who devotes himself to hearing the Bauddha scrip-
tures read or reading them to others ; these are his sole occupations, and he is
sustained by the small presents of his audiences. The Chailaka is he who contents
himself with such a portion of clothes (chilaka) as barely suffices to cover his
nakedness, rejecting everything more as superfluous. The Bhikshu and the Chai-
laka very nearly resemble each other, and both (and the Arhat also) are bound to
i practice celibacy. The Vajra Acharya is he who has a wife and children, and
j devotes himself to the active ministry of Buddhism. Such is the account of the
five classes found in the scriptures ; but there are no traces of them in NepauLf
No one follows the rules of that class to which he nominally belongs. Among
the Bhotiyas there are many Bhikshus, who never marry ; and the Bhotiya Lamas
are properly Arhats. But all the Nepaulese Buddhamargis are married men, who
pursue the business of the world, and seldom think of the injunctions of their
religion. The Tantras and Dharanis, which ought to be read for their own salva-
tion, they read only for the increase of their stipend and from a greedy desire
of money. This division into five classes is according to the scriptures; but
there is a popular division according to Vihars, and these Vihars being very
numerous, the separate congregations of the Bandyas, have been thus greatly
multiplied.^: In Patau alone there are fifteen Vihars. A temple to Adi-Buddha,
or to the five Dhyani-Buddhas, called a Chaitya, is utterly distinct from the
Vihar, and of the form of a heap of rice or Dhanyarasya-akar. But the temples
of Sakya and the other of the " Sapta Buddha Manuski," as well as those of
other chief saints and leaders of Buddhism are called Vihars. The names of tbe
fifteen Vihars of Patan are as follows: Tankal- Vihar, Tii-Yilnir, Uak- Vihar, Bhu-
* See farther on.
fin Nepaul at present the Bandyas are divided pepularly into Vajra Acharya,
Sakya Vansi, Bhikshu or Biklm, and Chiva-bare. The last derive their name from
living in a Vihar which has a Chaitya, vulgo Chiva, in its midst. Others say that
Chiva in Chi vakabare is a corruption of Chailaka Bandya Potius, Bandyas wearing the
Chivara, a part of the monastic dress, a sense which would make the term signify
Bandyas adhering to their vows.
J Some years ago there were 5,000 Bandyas in the Valley of Nepaul out of a popu-
lation of some 250,000.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 53
Vihar, Haran-Varna-Maha- Vihar, f Rudra-Yarna-Muha-Yikar,]; Bkiksku- Vihar,
Sakya- Vihar, Guhya- Vihar, Shi- Vihar, Dhom- Vihar, UnYihar, etc. (see note 32).
In short, if any Bandya die, and his son erect a temple in his name, such
structure may be called such an one's (after his name) Vihar. With this dis-
tinction, however, that a temple to an eminent saint is denominated Maha Vihar —
one to an ordinary mortal, simply Vihar. §
NOTES.
(1) Here a Sloka of tke Sambhii Purana is quoted in the original paper; and it
was my first intention to have repeated it on the margin of the translation; but,
upon reflection, I believe it will be better to observe, that the Sambhii Purana is
a work peculiar to Nepaul. Many other Bauddha scriptures, however, which are
not local, and are of high authority, symbolize tke forming and changing powers
of nature by the letters of the alphabet ; and ascribe the pre-eminence among these
letters to a, it, and Ji — making tke mystic syllable 6m, which is not less reverenced
by Bauddhas than by Brahmanas. A, tke Bauddhas say, is the Vija Mantra of
the person Buddha; U, the Vij a Mantra of the person Dharma; and M, that of the
person Sangha — and these tkree persons form tke Buddhist Triad.
The Bauddhas, however, differ in their mode of classing tke tkree persons.
According to tke Aiswarikas, tke male, Buddha, the symbol of generative power,
is the first member ; tke female, Dharma, the type of productive power, is the
second ; and Sangha, their son, is the third, and represents actual creative power,
or an active creator and ruler, deriving his origin from tke union of tke essences
of Buddha and Dharma. Sangha, according to all tke sckools, though a member,
is an inferior member, of the triad. ||
(2) Another sloka is here quoted; but it will not justify the language of the
text, in which there is some confusion of the opposite doctrines of the Aiswarikas
and Swabkavikas. In tke triad of tke latter, tke female, Dkarma (also called
Prajna), tke type of productive power, is tke first member ; Upaya, or Buddha,
the 'symbol of generative power, the second ; and Sangha the third; their son
as before, and the active author of creation; or rather the type of that spontaneous
creation, which results necessarily from the union of the two principles of nature
before mentioned.
Buddha and Prajna imited become Upaya Prajna; or vice versa, according to
the school, and vercr as in tke text. (For some further remarks upon tkese chief
objects of Bauddha worship, see Notes 12 and 29.)
I take tkis early opportunity to remark tkat candid criticism will compare, and
not contrast, tke statements made in Notes 10, 12, 17, 20, and 29, especially
witk reference to tke Swabkavika doctrine. (See Note 10.)
t Vulgo Kon. % Vulgo Uku. Throughout classical and vulgar names are mixed.
%BaM and Bdhd or Bahal arc the vulgar names for great and common Vihars, or
Vihars with a I'liaitva, and those witk a Kutagar only, erected in the midst of them.
Temples to Manushi Buddhas and other Deities are called Kutagar commonly, though
Kutagar temples sometimes enshrine Dhyani Buddhas. A Vihar may be built round
either.
|| See Wilson's Essays and Lectures, ii. 23 ff.
54 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
(3) The deduction of the five Dhyani Buddhae, and the five Dhyani Bodhisat-
twas, from Adi-Buddha, according to the Aiswarika Bauddhas, will be stated
farther on. It is a celestial or divine creation, and is here improperly mixed with
the generative creations, theistic and atheistic, of various doctors.
(4) See Note 23.
(5) The sloka quoted is from the Pivja Kanda, which is a mere manual of
worship, of recent origin, and probably local to Nepaul. It professes, however,
to be a faithful compilation from the Guna-Karanda Vyiiha, and Karanda Yyiiha.
The latter of these is a work of respectable authority, and contains the following
partial justification of the language of the Puja Kanda. (Sakya, speaking to his
disciple Sarvanivarana Vishkambhi, says,) " In the very distant times of Vipasyi
Buddha I was born as the son of Suganda Mukha, a merchant : in that birth I
heard from Vipasyi the following account of the qualities of Aryavalokiteswara
(PadmaPani). The sun proceeded from one of his eyes: and from the other, the
moon; from his forehead Mahadeva ; from between his shoulders, Brahma; from
his chest, Vishnu ; from his teeth, Sarasvati ; from his mouth, Vayu ; from his
feet, Prithvi ; from his navel, Varuna." So many deities issued from Aryavalo-
kiteswara's body. This passage is expanded in the Guna-Karanda Vyiiha, wherein
it is added, that when Aryavalokiteswara had created Brahma, Vishnu, and
Mahesa, they stood before him, and he said to the first, " be thou the lord of
Satyaguna and create:" and to the second, "be thou the lord of Rajoguna and
preserve;" and to the third, "be thou the lord of Tamoguna and destroy." The
Guna-Karanda Vyiiha, is however a mere amplification of the Karanda Vyiiha,
and of much less authority. In a passage of the Saraka Dkara — which is not
one of the sacred writings of Nepaul, but a work of high authority, written by
Sarvajna Mitrapada, a Bauddha ascetic of Cashmeer — the Hindu deities are made
to issue from the body of the supreme Prajna just as, according to the Karanda
Vyiiha, they proceed from that of Padma Pani.
(6) The authority for these ten mansions is the Dasa Bhiimeswara, one of the
nine great works spoken of in the answer to the thirteenth question ; and which
treats professedly of the subject. The thirteen mansions are, however, mentioned
in sundry works of high authority ; and the thirteen grades of the superior part
of the Chaitya (or proper Bauddha temple) are typical of the thirteen celestial
mansions alluded to in the text. The most essential part of the Chaitya is the
solid hemisphere ; but the vast majority of Chaityas in Nepaid have the hemi-
sphere surmounted by a pyramid or cone, called Chudamani, and invariably
divided into thirteen grades.
(7) All this, as well as what follows, is a mere transcript from the Brah-
manical writings. There is, nevertheless, authority for it in the Bauddha scrip-
tures. The Bauddhas seem to have adopted without hesitation the cosmography
and chronology of the Brahmans, and also a large part of their pantheon. They
freely confess to have done so at this day. The favourite Brahmanical deities
accepted by the Buddhists are, of males : Maha Kala, Indra, Ganesa, Hanuman,
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 55
and the triad. Of females : Lakshmi and Sarasvati. The Hindu triad are con-
sidered by the Buddhists as the mere servants of the Buddhas and Bodhisattwas,
and only entitled to such reverence as may seem fit to he paid to faithful servants of
so high masters. Of the origin of these deities, according to the Bauddha hooks,
I have already given one account, and referred to another. The notions of the
three gunas and of the creation, etc., by the Brahmanic triad as the delegates of
the Bodhisattwas, I look upon as modern inventions. According to genuine
Buddhism, the Bodhisattwas are, each in his turn, the active agents of the crea-
tion and government of the world.
(8) An important historical person, and the apparent introducer of Buddhism
into Nepaul. (See note 30).
(9) This is a most curious legend. I have not yet seen the Tantra whence it pro-
fesses to be extracted, and suspect that the legend was stolen from our Bible,
by some inhabitant of Nepaul, who had gathered a confused idea of the
Mosaic history of the origin and fall of mankind from the Jesuit missionaries,
formerly resident in this valley ; or perhaps the legend in question was derived
from some of those various corrupt versions of the biblical story which have
been current among the Jews and Moslems of Asia for many centuries.
(10) This limited reply is the fault of my friend and not of his books. Matter
is called Prakriti by the Buddhists, as well as by the Brahmans.* The Swab-
havika school of Bauddha philosophy (apparently the oldest school) seems to
have considered matter as the sole entity, to have ascribed to it all the attributes
of deity, and to have assigned to it two modalities ; one termed nirvritti, and the
other pravritti. (See note 12.) To speak more precisely, the above is rather the
doctrine of the Prajnika Swabhavikas than of the simple Swabhavikas : for the
former unitize the active and intelligent powers of nature, the latter do not unitize
them ; and prefer to all other symbols of those dispersed powers of nature the
letters of the alphabet generally, and without much regard to the pre-eminence
of a, xj, and m. Indeed, it is probable that the mystic syllable Atjm is altogether
a comparatively recent importation into Buddhism. The Lotos is a very
favourite type of creative power with all the Bauddhas ; and accordingly repre-
sentations of it occur in a thousand places, and in as many forms, in the Bauddha
sculptures and architecture.
(11) The sloka quoted is from a modern little manual of Puja. I have
not seen any adequate original authority; but the Aiswarika Buddhists, who
maintain an eternal, infinite, intellectual Adi-Buddha, in all probability made the
human soul an emanation from him ; and considered Moksha a remanation to him.
(12) The Swabhavikas, the name assumed by one of the four schools of Bauddha
philosophy, and apparently the oldest, are divided into two sects ; one called Swab-
havikas simply, the other Prajnika Swabhavikas. The former maintain that an
eternal revolution of entity and non-entity is the system of nature, or of matter,
*Dharmma, or that which sustains, is the Bauchlha equivalent for the Brahmanical
Matra, or that which measures all qualities in space, the English 'matter.'
5 6 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
which alone exists. The Prajnikas deify matter as the sole substance, and give
it two modes, the abstract and concrete : in the former, they unitize the active
and intelligent powers held to be inherent in matter, and make this unit deity.
Such is the abstract or proper mode, which is unity, immutability, rest, bliss.
The second is the contingent or concrete mode, or that of actual, visible, nature.
To this mode belong action, multiplicity, change, pain. It begins by the energies
of matter passing from their proper and eternal state of rest into their contingent
and transitory state of action ; and ends when those energies resume their proper
modality. The proper mode is called nirvritti; the contiugent mode pravritti.
The powers of matter cannot be described in their proper state of abstraction and
unity. In the latter state, all the order and beauty of nature are images of their
quality ; they are also symbolized by the Yoni, and personified as a female divinity
called Adi-Prajna and Adi-Dharina. Man's summum bonum is to pass from the
transmigrations incident to the state of pravritti into the eternal rest or bliss
of nirvritti. The triadic doctrine of all the schools is referable solely to pravritti,
In the state of nirvritti, with some of the Aiswarikas, Buddha represents intel-
lectual essence and the then sole entity ; with others of the Aiswarikas, Dharma, or
material essence exists biunchj with Buddha in nirvritti, the two being in that state
one. With the Prajnikas, Prajna, in the state of nirvritti, is the summum et soktm'
numen, Diva Natura — the sum of all the intellectual and physical forces of
matter, considered as the sole entity, and held to exist in the state of nirvritti
abstracted from palpable material substance, eternally, unchangeably, and essen-
tially one. "When this essential principle of matter passes into the state of
pravritti, Buddha, the type of active power, first proceeds from it and then
associates with it, and from that association results the actual visible world.
The principle is feigned to be a female, first the mother, and then the wife, of the
male, Buddha. [For a glimpse at the esoteric sense of these a3nigmas, see note 29.]
[13] The work cited is of secondary authority; but the mode of reasoning
exhibited in the text is to be found in all Bauddha works which treat of the Swab-
havika doctrine.
[14] This is the name of the Theistic school of the Bauddha philosophers.
The Sambkii Purana and Guna-Karanda Vyiiha contain the least obscure enun-
ciation of Theism — and these books belong to Nepaul. Other Bauddha scriptures,
however, which are not local, contain abundant expressions capable of a Theistic
interpretation. Even those Bauddha philosophers who have insisted that matter
is the sole entity, have ever magnified the wisdom and power of nature : and
doing so, they have reduced the difference of theism and atheism almost to a
nominal one : so, at least, they frequently affirm.
The great defect of all the schools is the want of Providence and of dominion in
their causa causarum, though the comparatively recent Karmikas and Yatnikas
appear to have attempted to remedy this defect. [See the following note.]
[15] Of two of the four schools of Bauddha philosophy, namely, the Swab-
havika and Aiswarika, I have already said a few words : the two remaining schools
are denominated the Karmika and Yatnika — from the words Karma, meanino-
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 57
moral action ; and Yatna, signifying intellectual force, skilful effort. The proper
topics of these two schools seem to me to he confined to the phenomena of human
nature — its free-will, its sense of right and wrong, and its mental power. To the
wisdom of Swabhava, or Prajna, or Adi-Buddha, the Bauddhas, hoth Swabhavikas
and Aiswarikas, had assigned that eternal necessary connexion of virtue and
felicity in which they alike believed. It remained for the Karmikas and Yatnikas
to discuss how each individual free-willed man might most surely hope to realize
that connexion in regard to himself; whether by the just conduct of his under-
standing, or by the proper cultivation of his moral sense ? And the Yatnikas
seem to have decided in favour of the former mode ; the Karmikas, in favour of
the latter. Having settled these points, it was easy for the Yatnikas and Karmikas
to exalt their systems by linking them to the throne of the causa causarum — to
which they would be the more readily impelled, in order to remove from their
faith the obloquy so justly attaching to the ancient Prajnika, and even to the
Aiswarika school, because of the want of Providence and of Dominion in their
first cause. That the Karmikas and Yatnikas originally limited themselves to the
phenomena of human nature, I think probable, from the circumstance that, out
of some forty slokas which I have had collected to illustrate the doctrines of
these schools, scarcely one goes beyond the point of whether man's felicity is
secured by virtue or by intellect ? And that when these schools go further (as I
have the evidence of two quotations from their books that they sometimes do),
the trespassing on ground foreign to their systems seems obvious ; thus in the Divya
Avaddna, Sakya says, "from the union of Upaya and Prajna, arose manas — the
lord of the senses; and from manas or 'mind' proceeded good and evil; and this
union of Upaya and Prajna is then declared to be a Karma. And in the same
work, in regard to the Yatnika doctrine, it is said, " Iswara (». e., Adi-Buddha)
produced Yatna from Prajna, and the cause of pravritti and nirvritti* is Yatna;
and all the difficulties that occur in the affairs of this world or of the next are
rendered easy by Yatna." Impersonality and quiescence were the objections pro-
bably made to the first cause of the Prajnikas and Aiswarikas; and it was to
remove these objections that the more recent Karmikas and Yatnikas feigned con-
scious moral agency (Karma), and conscious intellectual agency (Yatna) to have
been with the causa causarum (whether material or immaterial) from the begin-
ning. Of all the schools, the Karmikas and Yatnikas alone seem to have been
duly sensible of man's free-will, and God's moral attributes. The Karmika con-
fession of faith is, a Purva janma kritam karma tad daivyam itikat.hyate" which
may be very well translated by our noble adage, " conduct is fate." Such
sentiments of human nature naturally inclined them to the belief of immaterial
existences, and accordingly they will be found to attach themselves in theology
chiefly to the Aiswarika school.
(16) This is the divine creation alluded to in the third note. The eternal, infi-
nite and intellectual Adi-Buddha possesses, as proper to his own essence, five sorts
*Soe note 17 for the sense of thpse cardinal terms,
H
58 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHT.
of wisdom. From these he, by five separate acts of Dhyana, created the five
Dhyani Buddhas, to whom he gave the virtue of that jndna whence each derived
his origin. These five Dhyani Buddhas again created, each of them, a Dhyani
Bodhisatwa by the joint efficacy of the jndna received from Adi-Buddha, and of
an act of his own Dhyana.
The five Dhyani Buddhas are, like Adi-Buddha, quiescent — and the active
work of creation and rule is devolved on the Bodhisatwas. This creation by
Dhyana is eminently characteristic of Buddhism — but whose Dhyana possesses
creative power ? that of an eternal Adi-Buddha, say the Aiswarikas of the
Sdmbhu Parana — that of any Buddha, even a Mdnushi or mortal Buddha, say
the Swabhavikas. The Bauddhas have no other notion of creation (than that
by Dhyana,) which is not generative.
(17) These terms are common to all the schools of Bauddha philosophy ; with
the Aiswarikas, nirvritti is the state in which mind exists independent of matter ;
pravritti, the state in which it exists while mixed with matter. With the simple
Swabhavikas the former term seems to import non-entity ; the latter, entity. With
the Prajnika Swabhavikas, the former term signifies the state in which the active
and intellectual power of matter exists abstractedly from visible nature. The
Moksha of the first is absorption into Adi-Buddha ; of the second, absorption into
Siinyata; of the third, identification with Prajna. In a word, nirvritti means
abstraction, and pravritti, concretion— from nirvana is formed nirvritti, but
pravritti has no pravdna.
(18) If so, I am afraid few Bauddhas can be called wise. The doctrine of
the text in this place is that of the Aiswarikas, set off to the best advantage : the
doctrine incidentally objected to is that of the Swabhavikas and Prajnikas. Sir
W. Jones assures us that the Hindus " consider creation (I should here prefer
the word change) rather as an energy than as a work." This remark is yet more
true in regard to the old Bauddha philosophers : and the mooted point with them is,
what energy creates ? an energy mtrinsic in some archetypal state of matter, or
extrinsic? The old Bauddha philosophers seem to have insisted that there is
no sufficient evidence of immaterial entity. But, what is truly remarkable, some
of them, at least, have united with that dogma a belief in moral and intellectual
operations ; nor is there one tenet so diagnostic of Buddhism as that which insists
that man is capable of extending his moral and intellectual faculties to infinity.
True it is, as Mr. Colebrooke has remarked, that the Hindu philosophy recognizes
this do°-ma — coldly recognizes it, and that is all : whereas, the Bauddhas have
pursued it into its most extravagant consequences, and made it the corner-stone of
their faith and practice. (See note 20.)
(19)1 have not yet found that these Dhyani Buddhas of the Theistic school
do anything. They seem to be mere personifications, according to a Theistic
theory, of the active and intellectual powers of nature — and hence are called
Pancha Bhiita, Pancha Indriya, and Pancha Ayatana-Akara.
It may seem contrary to this notion of the quiescence of the five Dhyani Bud-
dhas, that, according at least to some Nepaul works, each of them has a Sakti.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 59
Vairockana's is Vajra-Dkateswari; Akskobkya's, Lochana; Ratna Sambhava's,
Mainukki; Aniitabka's, Pandara; Ainogka Siddka's, Tara. But I apprekend
tkat tkese Buddka-Saktis are peculiar to Nepaul ; and tkougk I kave found tkeir
names, I kave not found tkat tkey do any thing.
Tkere is indeed a secret and filtky* system of Buddkas and Buddka-Saktis,
in wkick tke ladies act a conspicuous part ; and according to wkick, Adi-Bud-
dka is styled Yog'unbara; and Adi-Dkarma, Jnaneswarf. But tins system kas
only keen recently revealed to me, and I cannot say more of it at present.
(20) According- to tke Aiswarikas : tke Swabkavikas say, into Akasa and Siin-
yata ; tke Prajnikas, into Adi-Prajna. Tke Swabkavika doctrine of Siinyata is tke
darkest corner of tkeir metapkysical labyrinth. It cannot mean strictly notking-
ness, since tkere are eigkteen degrees of Siinyata, wkereof tke first is Akasa : and
Akasa is so far from being deemed notkingness tkat it is again and again said
to be tke only real substance. Language sinks under tke expression of tke
Bauddka abstractions ; but by tbeir Siinyata. I understand sometimes tke place,
and sometimes tke form, in wkick tke infinitely attenuated elements of all tkings
exist in tkeir state of separation from tke palpable system of nature.
N. B. Tke images of all tke seven great Manuski Buddkas, referred to in tke
answer to tke seventk question, are exactly similar to tkat of Sakya Sinka, tke
seventk of tkem. Tkis image very nearly resembles tkat of Akskobkya, tke
second Dkyani Buddka. Tke differences are found only in tke supporters,
and in tke cognizances! (chinas.) Wken coloured tkere is a more remarkable
diagnosis, Akskobkya being blue, and Sakya and tke otker six ALinuskis, yellow.
(21) Tke Sambhu Parana says, manifested in Nepaul in tke form of flame (Jyoti-
rupa.) According to tke same work, Adi-Dkarma's (or Prajna's) manifestation
in Nepaul is in tke form of water (Jala suri'tpa).
(22) Tkis is tke true solution of a circumstance wkick kas caused muck idle
speculation : tkougk tke notion is, no doubt, an odd one for a sect wkick insists on
tonsure !
(23) Tkese are Padina Pani's names in kis ckaracter of active creator and gov-
ernor of tke present world. Tkree Dkyani Bodkisattwas preceded kim in tkat
ckaracter, and one (tke fiftk) remains to follow kim.
(2-4) I kave already stated tkat tkese deities, conformably witk tke quiescent
genius of Buddkism, do notking ; tkey are merely tke medium tkrougk wkick
creative power is communicated to tke Bodkisattwas from Adi-Buddka. It is tke
Bodkisattwas alone wko exercise tkat power, one at a time, and eack in kis turn.
It is a ludicrous instance of Bauddka contempt for action, tka,t some recent
writers kave made a fourtk delegation of active power to tke tkree gods of tke
Hindu Triad.
(25) Until ke attained bodhijndna; and even tken, wkile yet lingering in tke
flesk, ke got tke name of Sakya Sinka. Tkis name kas caused some speculation,
* Tantrika S3*stem.
+ Mudnis, tke name of tke several (all) positions of tke kands : Chinas, tkat of the
cognizances placed between the supporters or vakana.
60 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
on the asserted ground of its not being Indian. The Bauddha scriptures differ
as to the city in which Sakya was born ; but all the places named are Indian.
They also say that the Sakavansa was an Indian race or family ; as was the
Gautamavansa, iu which also Sakya was once born.
(25 bis) This must be received with some allowance. The Lcdita Vistara gives
ample details of Sakya's numberless births and acts, but is nearly silent as to
the origin or actions of his six great predecessors : and the like is true of
many other Bauddha scriptures.
(26) These works are regularly worshipped in Nepaul as the " Nava Dhartna."
They are chiefly of a narrative kind. The most important work of the speculative
kind now extant in Nepaul is the Itakshd Bhdgavati, consisting of no less than
125,000 slokas. This is a work of philosophy rather than of religion, and its spirit
is sceptical to the very verge of pyrrhouism. The Bauddhas of Nepaul hold it
in the highest esteem, and I have sent three copies of it to Calcutta. Its
substance though not its form or reduction to writing, are attributed (as are those
of all the other Bauddha scriptures) to Sakya Sinha. "Whatever the Buddhas
have said, (sugatai-desita) is an object of worship with the Bauddhas. Sakya
having systeniatised these words of the Buddhas, and his earliest disciples having
reduced to writing, the books are now worshipped under the names of Sutra and
Dharma. The aggregation of nine Dharmas is for ritual purposes ; but why the
nine specified works have been selected to be thus peculiarly honoured I cannot
say. They are probably the oldest and most authentic scriptures existing in Nepaul,
though this conjecture is certainly opposed to the reverence expressed for the
Itakshd Bhdgavati, by the Buddhists. That work, (as already stated) is of vast
extent, containing no less than 125,000* slokas, divided into five equal parts or
khands, which are known by the names of the five Pdramitds and the five Hakshds.
(27) The three first sins should be rendered, all destruction of life, all taking
without right, and all sexual commerce whatever. The ten are the cardinal sins
of Buddhism, and will bear a very favourable comparison with the five cardinal sins
of Brahmanism.
(28) The Buddhas mentioned in the Bauddha scriptures are innumerable.
Many of them, however, are evident non-entities in regard to history. Even the
Buddhas of mortal mould are vastly numerous, and of various degrees of power
and rank. These degrees are three, entitled, Pratyeka} Srdvaka, and Mahd Ydnika.
Sakya Sinha is often said to be the seventh and last Manushi Buddha who has
yet reached the supreme grade of the Maha Yanika. In the Lalita Vistara,
there is a formal enumeration of the perfections in knowledge and virtue requisite
for attaining to each of these three grades — a monstrously impracticable and im-
pious array of human perfectibility ! The three grades are known by the collec-
tive name of " Tri Ydna."
(29) Genuine Buddhism never seems to contemplate any measures of acceptance
*See list of books at pp. 36-39. The jPrajnd Pdramitdia found in five different
degrees of development ; of these the second, though distinct from, is often blended
■with the first.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 6 1
with the deity ; hut, overleaping the harrier hetween finite and infinite mind,
urges its followers to aspire by their own efforts to that divine perfectibility of
which it teaches that man is capable, and by attaining which man becomes God —
and thus is explained both the quiescence of the imaginary celestial, and the plen-
ary omnipotence of the real Manushi Buddhas — thus too we must account for
the fact, that genuine Buddhism has no priesthood ; the saint despises the priest;
the saint scorns the aid of mediators, whether on earth or in heaven : " conquer
(exclaims the adept or Buddha to the novice or Bodhi-Sattwa) — conquer the impor-
tunities of the body, urge your mind to the meditation of abstraction, and you
shall, in time, discover the great secret (Sunyatd) of nature : know this, and you
become, on the instant, whatever priests have feigned of Godhead — you become
identified with Prajna, the sum of all the power and all the wisdom which sus-
tain and govern the world, and which, as they are manifested out of matter, must
belong solely to matter ; not indeed in the gross and palpable state of pravritti,
but in the archetypal and pure state of nirvritti. Put off, therefore, the vile,
prdvrittika necessities of the body, and the no less vile affections of the mind
(Tapas); urge your thoughts into pure abstraction (DJujdna), and then, as assuredly
you can, so assuredly you shall, attain to the wisdom of a Buddha (Bodhi/ndna),
and become associated with the eternal unity and rest of nirvritti." Such, I believe,
is the esoteric doctrine of the Prajnikas — that of the Swabhavikas is nearly allied
to it, but more timid and sceptical ; they too magnify the wisdom and power of
nature so abundantly diffused throughout pravritti, but they seem not to unitize
that wisdom and power in the state of nirvritti, and incline to conceive of nir-
vritti, as of a state of things concerning which nothing can be predicated j but
which, even though it be nothingness (Sunyatd), is at least a blissful rest to man,
otherwise doomed to an eternity of transmigrations through all forms of visible
nature: and while the Swabhavikas thus underrated the nirvritti of the Praj-
nikas, it is probable that they compensated themselves by magnifying, more
than the Prajnikas did, that prdvrittiJca omnipotence of which the wise man (Bud-
dha) is capable, even vpon earth. It has been already stated that the second
person of the Prajnika Triad is denominated Buddha and Upaya ; of which terms
the esoteric sense is this : Every man possesses in his understanding, when pro-
perly cultivated according to the rides of Buddhism, the means or expedient
(Updyajoi discovering the supreme wisdom of nature (Prajna), and of realizing
by this discovery, in his own person, a plenary omnipotence or divinity ! which
begins even while he yet lingers in the flesh (in pravrittij ; but which is not
fully accomplished till he passes, by the body's decay, into the eternal state of
nirvritti.
And as the wisdom of man is, in its origin, but an effluence of the Supreme
wisdom {Prajna) of nature, so is it perfected by a refluence to its source, but
without loss of individuality : whence Prajna is feigned in the exoteric system
to be both the mother and the wife of all the Buddhas, ujanani sarva Buddhd-
ndm" and " Jina-sundari ;" for the efflux is typified by a birth, and the reflux
by a marriage.
62 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
The Buddha is the adept in the wisdom of Buddhism (Bodhijndna) whose first
duty, so long as he remains on earth, is to communicate his wisdom to those who
are willing to receive it. These willing learners are the " Bodhisattwas," so
called from their hearts heing inclined to the wisdom of Buddhism, and " Sang-
has," from their companionship with one-another, and with their Buddha or teacher,
in the Vihdras or coenobitical establishments.
And such is the esoteric interpretation of the third (and inferior) member of
the Prajnika Triad. The Bodbisattwa or Sangha continues to be such until he
has surmounted the very last grade of that vast and laborious ascent by which he
is instructed that he can " scale the heavens," and pluck immortal wisdom from
its resplendent source : which achievement performed, he becomes a Buddha, that
is, an Omniscient Being, and a Tathdyata* — a title implying the accomplishment
of that gradual increase in wisdom by which man becomes immortal or ceases to
be subject to transmigration. These doctrines are very obscurely indicated in the
Bauddha scriptures, whose words have another, more obvious, and very different
sense ; nor, but for the ambition of the commentators to exhibit their learning,
would it be easy to gather the esoteric sense of the words of most of the original
scriptures. I never was more surprised than when my old friend recently (after
a six years' acquaintance) brought to me, and explained, a valuable comment
upon a passage in the Prajnd Pdramitd. Let me add in this place, that I desire
all searchers after the doctrine of Bodkijnyana to look into the Bauddha scriptures,
and judge for themselves ; and to remember, meanwhile, that I am not a Sanskrit
scholar, and am indebted for all I have gathered from the books of the Buddhists
to the mediation of my old Bauddha friend, and of my Pandit.
(30) Their physiognomy, their language, their architecture, civil and religious,
their notions in regard to women, and several less important traits in their
manners and customs, seem to decide that the origin of the greater part of the
Newars must be assigned to the north ; and in the Sdmbhu Purdna, a Baud-
dha teacher named Manju Ghosha, and Manju Natha and Manjusri, is stated to
have led a colony into Nepaul from China ;f to have cleared Nepaul of the
waters which then covered it; to have made the country habitable; to have
built a temple to Jyoti-rup-Adi-Buddha ; and established Dharmakara (whom he
brought with him) as first Raja of Nepaul. But I nevertheless suppose (upon the
authority of tradition) that Nepaul received some colonists from India ; and that
some of the earliest propagators of Buddhism in Nepaul came to the valley
direct from India. Be that as it may, the Indian origin of Nepaulese Buddhism
(whether it reached the valley direct, or via Bhot or China) seems to be unques-
tionable from the fact that all the great Saugata scriptures of Nepaul are written
in the Sanskrit language. From the gradual decay of literature and of a knowledge
of Sanskrit among the Newars has resulted the practice, now very common, of
translating ritual works into the vernacular tongue ; and also the usage of
* Tathd, 'thus, absolutely, verily;' and gata, 'got, obtained ;' the thing got being
cessation from versatile existence, alias, nirvana ■ pada.
tSee Fahien, pp. 112-115 for Manjusri; The place named is Pancha Sirsha Parvata,
which the comment says is in China. The words are both Sanskrit.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 63
adding to the original Sanskrit of such works comments in the vulgar language.
The great scriptures however have never heen subjected to the former process ;
seldom to the latter ; for owing to Sanskrit having always been considered by. the
Buddhists of Nepaul the language of literature, they have neglected to cultivate
their vernacular tongue ; nor does there exist to this day a dictionary or gram-
mar of the Newari language.
(31) Of course therefore the Bauddhas of Nepaul have not properly any diversity
of caste; that is, any indelible distinction of ranks derived from birth, and
necessarily carried to the grave. Genuine Buddhism proclaims the equality of all
followers of Buddha — seems to deny to them the privilege of pursuing worldly
avocations, and abhors the distinction of clergy and laity. All proper Bauddhas
are B.mdyas ; and all Bandyas are equal as brethrui in the faith. They are pro-
perly all ascetics or monks — some solitary, mostly coenobitical. Their convents
are called Vihdras, The rule of these Viharas is a rule of freedom ; and the door
of every Vihara is always open$ both to the entrance of new comers, and to the
departure of such of their old inmates as are tired of their vows.§ Each Vihara
has a titular superior called N;iyaka,|| whose authority over his brethren depends
only on their voluntary deference to his superior learning or piety. Women are
held equally worthy of admission with men, and each sex has its Viharas.
The old Bauddha scriptures enumerate four sorts of Bandyas, named : Arhan,
Bhikshu, Sravaka, and Chailaka, who are correctly described in the text ; and from
that description it will be seen that there is no essential distinction between
them, the Arhan being only segregated from the rest by his superior proficiency in
Bodkijnana. Of these the proper institutes of Buddhism, there remains hardly a
trace in Nepaul. The very names of the Arhan and Chailaka have passed
awa}r — the names, and the names only, of the other two exist ; and out of the
gradual, and now total, disuse of monastic institutes, an exclusive minister of the
altar, denominated Vajra Achdrya, has derived his name, office, and existence
in Nepaul, not only without sanction from the Bauddha scriptures, but in direct
opposition to their spirit and tendency.
Nepaul is still covered with Viharas ; but these ample and comfortable abodes
have long resounded with the hum of industry and the pleasant voices of women
and children. The superior ministry of religion is now solely in the hands of the
Bandyas, entitled, Vajra- Achdrya in Sanskrit; Giibhdl in. Newari: the inferior
ministry, such Bhikshus as still follow religion as a lucrative and learned pro-
fession, are competent to discharge. And these professions of the Vajra-Acharya
and of the Bhikshu, have become by usage hereditary, as have all other avoca-
tions and pursuits, whether civil or religious, in Nepaul. And as in the modern
corrupt Buddhism of Nepaul there are exclusive ministers of religion or priests, so
are there many Bauddhas who retain the lock on the crown of the head, and are
§"Oncea priest for ever a priest" is a maxim which Buddhism utterly eschews.
|| Ndyaka, the superior of a convent, is Khanpo inTibet, Therom Ceylon Bandya
is Bonze, in Japan, Bandida in Altaia ; and Arltat is Bahatun in Indo-China. I
demur to the frequent use of the word piiest as the equivalent of any of these teims.
64 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
not Bandyas. These improper Bauddhas are called Udds, Japu, Kami, etc.,
according to their various avocations and crafts ; the Udas are traders ; the Japu,
agriculturists; the Kami, craftsmen. They comprise the untousured class : they
never dwell in the Viharas ; look up to the Bandyas with a reverential respect
derived from the misapplication of certain ancient tenets ; and follow those trades
and avocations which are comparatively disreputable (among which is foreign
commerce) ; while the Bandyas, who have abandoned the profession of religion,
practise those crafts which are most esteemed. Agriculture is equally open to
both ; but is, in fact, chiefly followed by the untonsured class, who have thus
become, in course of time, more numerous than the Bandyas, notwithstanding
the early abandonment by the Bandyas of those monastic vows which their faith
enjoins, the resort of the greater part of them to the active business of the world,
and their usurpation of all the liberal, and many of the mechanical, arts of their
country. The Vajra-Acharya and Bhikshu are the religious guides and priests of
both Bandyas and non-Bandyas.* All Bandyas, whatever be the profession or
trade they hereditarily exercise, are still equal ; they intermarry, and communi-
cate in all the social offices of life — and the like is true of all of the other
classes — but between the one class and the other, growing superstition has erected
an insuperable barrier. To the above remarks it may be well to add, that Bud-
dhists, of some one or other of the above denominations, comprise the vast majority
of the Newar race, and that the minority, are mostly Saivas and Saktas ; but in a
sense peculiar to themselves, and with which my subject does not entitle me here
to meddle.
(33) The names are almost all barbarous ; that is, not derived from Sanskrit,
but from Newari. I have not thought it worth while to enumerate any more of
these examples. The Vihara is built round a large quadrangle, or open square, two
stories high ; the architecture is Chinese. Chaitya properly means a temple of
Buddha, and Vihara, an abode of ccenobitical followers of Buddha. t In the
open square in the midst of every Vihara, is placed a Chaitya or a Kutagar —
but those words always bear the senses here attached to them ; and Vihara can
never be construed temple — it is a convent, or monastery, or religious house, but
never templum Dei vel Bitddhje. At the base of the hemisphere of every Nepaul
Chaitya are placed the images of the Dhyani Buddhas. The Chaitya has often
been blended with sundry structures, more or less appropriate to Buddhism.
To conclude : with respect to the notes — that portion of this sketch, which
is my own — no one can be more sensible than I am that the first half contains
a sad jumble of cloudy metaphysics. How far the sin of this indistinctness is
mine, and how far that of my original authorities, I cannot pretend to decide ;
but am ready to take a large share of it to myself. In regard to this, the most
*Bandya has no correlative term, like Laicus of Clerus ; one of many arguments
in favour of the nonadmittance of that distinction by Buddhism, as elsewhere attempted
to be shown : seeFahian pp. 12, 172, 175, and 289, for sundry notices of so-called Clerus
ct Laicus. Those passages seem to prove that the distinction is foreign to genuine
Buddhism.
t Fergusson, tree and serpent worship, p. 79.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 65
speculative part of Buddhism, it is sufficient happiness for me to have discovered
and placed within the reach of my countrymen the materials for more accurate in-
vestigation, by those who have leisure, patience, and a knowledge of languages for
the undertaking; and who, with competent talents, will be kind enough to afford
the world the benefit of so irksome an exercise of them.
But I trust that the latter half of the notes, which embraces topics more
practical and more within the range of the favourite pursuits of my leisure,
will not be found wanting in distinctness; and I can venture confidently to
warrant the accuracy of the information contained in it.
QUOTATIONS FROM ORIGINAL SANSKRIT AUTHORITIES.
Several distinguished orientalists having, whilst they applauded the novelty
and importance of the information conveyed by my Sketch of Buddhism,! called
upon me for proofs, I have been induced to prepare for publication the following
translation of significant passages from the ancient books of the Saugatas, which
still are extant in Nepaul in the original Sanskrit.
These extracts were made for me (whilst I was collecting the works* in ques-
tion) some years ago by Amrita Nanda Bandya, the most learned Buddhist then,
or now, living in that country ; they formed the materials from which chiefly
I drew my sketch ; and they would have been long since communicated to the
public, had the translator felt sufficiently confident of his powers, or sufficiently
assured that enlightened Europeans could be brought to tolerate the ' ingens
indigestaque moles ' of these ' original authorities ; ' which however, in the present
instance, are original in a higher and better sense than those of Csoma de
Koros or of Upham. Without stopping to question whether the sages who formed
the Bauddha system of philosophy and religion used Sanskrit or high Prakrit or
both, or seeking to determine the consequent pretension of Upham's authorities
to be considered original,t it may be safely said, that those of Csoma de Koros
can support no claims of the kind.
% Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, London ; — necnon, Transactions of Ben-
gal Society, vol. xvi.
* The collection comprises, besides sixty volumes in Sanskrit, procured in Nepaul
the very names of which had previously been unknown, some 250 volumes in the lan-
guage of Tibet, which were obtained from Lassa and Digarchi. But for the existence of
tlie latter at Calcutta, Csoma de Koros's attainments in Tibetan lore had been compara-
tively useless. The former or Sanskrit books of Nepaul are the authorities relied on
in this paper. One complete set has been presented to the Indian Home Government,
another procured for the Asiatic Society, and most of the Sanskrit series for the Libra-
ries of Paris and of Oxford. Since the first collection was made in Nepaul, very main-
new works in the Sanskrit language have been discovered and are yet daily under dis-
covery. The probability now is, that the entire Kahgyur and Stangyur may be recovered
in the original language. The whole series has been obtained in that of Tibet, 327
large volumes.
f Upham's authorities, however, even if allowed to be original, appear to consist
entindy of childish legends. I allude to the three published volumes. The received
hypothesis, viz., that the philosophers of Ayodhyd and Magadha, (the acknowledged
founders of Buddhism) postponed the use of Sanskrit to that of Prakrit, in the orisi-
nal exposition of their subtle system appears to me as absurd as it does probable that
their successors, as Missionaries, resorted to Prakrit versions of the original Sanskrit
authorities, in propagating the system in the remotest parts of the continent and in
I
66 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
The native works which the latter gentleman relies on are avowedly Tibetan
translations of my Sanskrit originals, and whoever will duly reflect upon the
dark and profound abstractions, and the infinitesimally-multiplied and microscop-
ically-distinguished personifications of Buddhism, may well doubt whether the
language of Tibet does or can adequately sustain the weight that has been laid
upon it.
Sanskrit, like its cognate Greek, may be characterised as a speech " capable of
giving a soul to the objects of sense, and a body to the abstractions of meta-
physics." But, as the Tibetan language can have no pretensions to a like power,
those who are aware that the Saugatas taxed the whole powers of the Sanskrit
to embody in words their system, will cautiously reserve, I apprehend, for the
Bauddha books still extant in the classical language of India, the title of original
authorities. From such works, which, though now found only in Nepaul, were
composed in the plains of India before the dispersion of the sect, I have drawn
the accompanying extracts ; and though the merits of the " doing into Eng-
lish " may be small indeed, they will yet. I hope, be borne up by the paramount
and (as I suspect) unique authority and originality of my "original authorities,''
a phrase which, by the way, has been somewhat invidiously, as well as laxly,
used and applied in certain quarters.
It is still, I observe, questioned amongst us, whether Brahmanism or Bud-
dhism be the more ancient creed, as well as whether the latter be of Indian or
extra Indian growth. The Buddhists themselves have no doubts upon either
point. They unhesitatingly concede the palm of superior antiquity to their rivals
and persecutors, the Brahmans; nor do they in any part of the world hesitate in
pointing to India as the cradle of their faith.
Formerly we might be pardoned for building fine-spun theories of the exotic
origin of Buddhism upon the supposed African locks of Buddha's images : but
surely it is now somewhat too late,* in the face of the abundant direct evidence
which we possess against the exotic theory, to go in quest of presumptions to
the time-out-of-mind illiterate Scythians,t in order to give to them the glory of
Ceylon. On this ground, I presume the Prakrit works of Ceylon and Ava to be trans-
lations, not originals : — a presumption so reasonable that nothing but the production
from Ceylon or Ava of original Prakrit works, comparable in importance witli the
Sanskrit books discovered in Nepaul, will suffice to shake it in my mind. Sir W. Jones
had a copy of the Lalita Vistara whence he quotes a description of Dharma as Diva
Natura. Sir W. Jones I believe to be the author of the assertion, that the, Buddhists
committed their system to high Prakrit or Pali : and so long at leasl as there were
no Sanskrit works of the sect forthcoming, the presumption was not wholly unreaspn-
able. It is, however, so now. And Sir W. Jones was not unaware that Magadha or
Bihar was the original head-quarters of Buddhism, nor that the best Sanskrit lexicon
extant was the work of a BauddKa ■■ ; nor that the Brahmans themselves acknowledged
the pre-eminent literary merits of their heterodox adversaries. But for his Brahman-
ical bias therefore, Sir William might have come at the truth, that the Bauddha phil-
osophers employed the classical language.
* Recent discoveries make it more and more certain, that the cave temples of the
Western Coast and its vicinity, are exclusively Bauddha. Every part of India is illus-
trated by splendid remains of Buddhism.
tThe Uighursof Push Balighad letters derived from the Nestorian Christians. Thence
Sramanism and Christian monachism may have met on the common ground of mona-
chism. Sramanism is nothing more than Tantrika Buddhism.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 6;
originating a system built upon the most subtle philosophy, and all the copious
original records of which are inshrined in Sanskrit,} a language which, wherice-
soever primevally derived, had been, when Buddhism appeared, for ages proper to
the Indian continent.
The Buddhists make no serious pretensions to a very high antiquity : never hint
at an extra Indian origin.
Sakya Sihha is, avowedly, a Kshatriya ; and, if his six predecessors had really
any historical existence, the books which affirm it, affirm too, that all the six were
of Brahmanical or Kshatriya lineage. § Saugata books treating on the subject of
caste never call in question the antique fact of a fourfold division of the Hindu
people, but only give a more liberal interpretation to it than the current Brah-
manical one of their day.|| The Chinese, the Mongols, the Tibetans, the Indo-
Chinese, the Japanese, Ceylonese, and other Indian Islanders, all point to India as
the father-land of their creed. The records of Buddhism in Nepaul and in Tibet.
in both of which countries the people and their mother-tongues are of the Mongol
stock, are still either Sanskrit or avowed translations from it by Indian pandit*.
Nor is there a single record or monument of this faith in existence which bears
intrinsic or extrinsic evidence of an extra Indian origin.**
The speculations of a writer of Sir "W. Jones's day (Mr. Joinville). tending
to prove, argumentatively, from the characters of Buddhism and Brahmanism,
the superior antiquity of the former, have been lateky revived (see Asiatic Journal,
No. CLX.) with applause. But besides that fine drawn presumptions are idle
in the face of such a mass of direct evidence as we now possess, the reasonings
of Joinville appear to me altogether based on errors of fact. Buddhism (to hazard
a character in few words), is monastic asceticism in morals, philosophical scepti-
cism in religion ; and whilst ecclesiastical history all over the world affords abun-
dant instances of such a state of things resulting from gross abuse of the reli-
X The difference between high Prakrit and Sanskrit could not affect this question,
though it were conceded that the founders of Buddhism used only the former and not
the latter — a concession however, which should not be lightly made, and to which J
wholly demur. In fact, it now appears that they used both languages, but Sanskrit
only in the philosophical or speculative series of their Sastras,
§ The Brahmanical or Kshatriya family from which each of these Buddhas sprung
is expressly and carefully stated by the Bauddha writers, a fart which I hold to be deci-
sive of this dispute, since if we would carry the etymon of Buddhism beyond the last
of these seven Buddhas, we cannot surely think of carrying it beyond the.iirst of them.
|| Seethe Bauddha disputation on caste, Royal Asiatic Society's Transactions.
** See Crawfurd's remarks on the purely Indian character of all the great sculptural
ami architectural monuments of Buddhism in Java. Also Barrow's remarks to the
same effect in his travels in China. The Chinese Pu-sa is VisvarApyd Prajnd or the
polyform type of "Diva Natura. " See Oriental Quarterly Magazine, No. xvi. pp. 218—
222, for proofs of the fact that numberless Bauddha remains have been mistaken for
Brahmanical by our antiquaries, and even by the natives. In the same work I have
proved this in reference to Crawfurd's Archipelago, Oriental Quarterly, No. xvi. pp.
232, 235.
Yet, no sooner had I shown, from original authorities, how thoroughly Indian Buddhism
is, than it was immediately exclaimed, "Oh! this is Ne.paulese corruption ! these are
merely popular grafts from Brahmanism." The very same character belongs to
the oldest monuments of Buddhism, extant in India and beyond it ; and 1 hav«
traced that character to the highest scriptural authorities.
6& BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
gious sanction, that ample chronicle gives us no one instance of it as a primitive
system of belief. Here is a legitimate inference from sound premises. But that
Buddhism was, in truth, a reform or heresy, and not an original system, can he
proved by the most abundant direct evidence both of Mends and of enemies.
The oldest Saugata works incessantly allude to the existing superstition as the
Mdracharya or way of the evil one,tt contradistinguishing their reformation there-
of as the Bodhieharya or way of the wise ; and the Brahmanical impugners of
those works (who, upon so plain a fact, could not lie), invariably speak of Buddhism
as a notorious heresy.
An inconsiderable section of the Saugatas alone, ever held the bald doctrine
of mortal souls : and the Swabluivika denial of a creation of matter by the fiat
of an absolutely immaterial being, springs not out of the obesity of barbarian
dulness, but out of the over-refinement of philosophical ratiocination. Joinville's
idea of the speculative tenets of Buddhism is utterly erroneous. Many of them
are bad indeed : but they are of philosophy " all compact," profoundly and pain-
fully subtle, sceptical too, rather than atheistically dogmatic.
At the risk of being somewhat miscellaneous in this preface, I must allude to
another point. The lamented Abel Remusat sent me, just before he died, a copy of
his essay on the Saugata doctrine of the Triad ; and Mr. Upham, I find, has de-
duced from Remusat's interpretation of that doctrine, the inference (which he
supports by reference to sundry expressions in the sacred books of Ceylon), that
I am in error in denying that Buddhism, in its first, and most characteristic form,
admits the distinction of Clems et Laicus. It is difficult expressly to define that
distinction ; but it may be seen in all its breadth in Brahmanism and in Popery ;
whilst in Islamism, and in the most enthusiastic of the Christian sects, which sprang
out of the Reformation, it is wholly lost. According to my view, Apostolic
Christianity recognised it not;* the congregation of the faithful, the Church,
was a society of peers, of brethren in the faith, all essentially equal, in gifts,
as in place and character. On earth, there were no indispensable mediators, no
exclusive professional ones ; and such alone I understand to be priests.f Again,
genuine monachism all over the world, I hold to be, in its own nature, essen-
tially opposed to the distinction of clergyman and layman, though we all know that
monastic institutions no sooner are rendered matters of public law and of exten-
sive popular prevalence, than, ex vi necessitatis, the distinction in question ia
superinduced upon them, by the major part of the monks laicising, and the rest
becoming clergy.% There are limits to the number of those whom the public can
ftNamuchi by name, chief of the Kakodemons.
* I would not be understood to lay stress on his opinion, which is merely adduced
to illustrate my argument.
•f For example, the Anglican church holds that there is no virtue in any sacerdotal
function not performed by the successors of the apostles,' who are the only clergy.
% History informs us that, soon after monachism supervened upon our holy and
eminently social religion, there were in Egypt as many monks almost as peasants. Some
of these monks necessarily laicised, and the rest bcame clergy. The community of
the Gosains and several others, of strictly ascetical origin, now in India, exhibit the same
necessary change after the sects had become numerously followed.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 69
support in idleness ; and whoso would eat the bread of the public must perform
eome duty to the public. Yet who can doubt that the true monk, whether coeno-
bite or solitary, is he who abandons the world to save his oiun soul ; as the true
clergyman is he who mixes with the world to save the souls of others? § The latter
in respect to the people or laics has a distinctive function, and, it may be, also
an exclusive one : the former has no function at all. Amongst entirely monastic
sects, then, the exclusive character of priest is objectless and absurd ; and who
that has glanced an eye over ecclesiastical history knows not that in proportion
as sects are enthusiastic, they reject and hate, (though nothing tainted with mon-
achism) the exclusive pretensions of the clergy ! Whoever has been able to go
along with me in the above reflections can need only to be told that primitive
Buddhism was entirely monastic, and of an unboundedly enthusiastical genius, || to
be satisfied that it did not recognise the distinction in question. But if, being
suspicious of the validity of argumentative inferences, he demand of me simple
facts, here they are. In the Sata Sdhasrika, Prajnd Pdramitd, or Raksha JBhdr/avati,
and also in the nine Dharmds (the oldest and highest written authorities), it is
affirmed more or less directly, or is clearly deducible from the context, in a thou-
sand passages (for the subject is not expressly treated), that the only true followers
of Buddha are monks ; the majority being coenobites, the rest, solitaries. The
fullest enumeration of these followers (Bhikshu, Srdoaka or Sramana* C/tailaka, and
Arhata or Arhana or Arhanta) proves them to have been all monks, tonsured,
subject to the usual vows, (nature teaching to all mankind that wealth, women and
power, are the grand tempters,) resident in monasteries ( Vihdra) or in deserts,
and essentially peers, though of course acknowledging the claims of superior
wisdom and piety. The true church, the congregation of the faithful, (called
from this very circumstance Sane/ha,) is constantly said to consist of such only ;
and I am greatly mistaken indeed if the church in this sense be synonymous
with the clergy ;§§ or, if the primitive church of Buddha recognized an absolutely
distinct body such as we (*. e., Catholics, Lutherans, and Kirkmen) ordinarily
mean when we speak of the latter. The first mention of an exclusive, profes-
sional, active, minister of religion, or priest, in the Bauddha books, is in those of a
comparatively recent date, and not of scriptural authority. Therein the Vajra
Achdrya (for so he is called) first appears arrayed with the ordinary attributes of
§ See Guizot's Civilization of Europe, ii. 61-63, & i. 86.
|| Its distinguishing doctrine is that finite mind can be enlarged to infinite ; all the
schools uphold this towering tenet, postponing all others to it. As for the scepticism
of the Swabhavikas relative to those transcendent marvels, creation and providence,
it is sufficient to prove its remoteness from "fiat Atheism," simply to point to the
coexistence of the cardinal tenet first named.
•Sramana includes the whole, and is equally ascetic; Sramani feminine, equal to monk
and nun. Sakya is often called the great Sramana.
§§ Bunsen's controversy with Gladstone, and his work on the constitution of the church
(published in IS 47) set this matter clearly in the light in which I viewed it; Bunsen
insists on the congregational church as the only true one, says the clergy church is preg-
nant with priestcraft and essentially untenable, contends that the future church must
be of the former kind, and adds that the reformation virtually extinguished the clergy
church. So Sakya argued and instituted in opposition to the cleric exorbitances of the
B rahmans.
il
JO BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
a priest. Bat his character is anomalous, as is that of everything about him ;
and the learned Bauddhas of Nepaul at the present day universally admit the falling
off from the true faith. We have in these hooks, Bhikshus, Srdvakas, Chailakas,
and Sdkya Vansikas,* bound by their primitive rules for ten days (in memory
of the olden time) and then released from them ; tonsured, yet married ; osten-
sibly monks, but really citizens of the world.
From any of the above the Vqjra Achdrya is drawn indiscriminately ; he
keeps the keys of the no longer open treasury; and he is surrounded by un ton-
sured followers, who now present themselves for the first time. I pretend not to
trace with historical nicety all the changes which marked the progress of Bud-
dhism as a public institute and creed of millions up to the period of the dispersion :
but I am well aware, that the primitive doctrines were not, because they could
not be, rigidly adhered to, when what I hold to have been at first the closet spec-
ulation of some philosophers, had become the dominant creed of large kingdoms.
That the latter character was, however, assumed by Buddhism in the plains of
India for centuries! before the dispersion, seems certain ; and, as many persons may
urge that the thing in question is the dominant public institute, not the closet
speculation, and that whatever discipline prevailed before the dispersion must be
held for primitive and orthodox, I can only observe that the ancient books of the
Saugatas, whilst they glance at such changes as I have adverted to, do so in th«
language of censure ; and that, upon the whole, I still strongly incline to the opin-
ion that genuine or primitive Buddhism (so I cautiously phrased it originally)
rejected the distinction of Clcrus et Laicus ; that the use of the word priest
by Upham, is generally inaccurate ; and that the Sangha of the Buddhist triad
ought to have been invariably rendered by Remusat into 'congregation of th»
faithful' or 'church,' aud never into 'clergy' or 'priesthood.' Remusat indeed
seems to consider (Observations, 23-29, and 32,) these phrases as synonymous; and
yet the question which their discrimination involves is one which, in respect to
our own religion, has been fiercely agitated for hundreds of years; and still, by th«
very shades of that discrimination, chiefly marks the subsisting distinction between
the various Churches of Christ !
*An inscription at Karli identifies the splendid Sdlivdhana with the head of the
Saka tribe, which is that of Sdkya Sinha. The Sakya-Vansikas, or people of the rac«
of Sakya, appeared in Nepaul as refugees from Brahman bigotry, some time after Bud-
dhism had been planted in these hills. Sakya is universally allowed to have been
the son of king Sudhodana, sovereign of Magadha, or Bihar (Kosala says Wilson, who
calls it a dependancy of Bihar). He is said to have been born in the "Sthanaof
Kapila Muni," at Ganga Sagara, according to some ; in Oude, as others say. His
birth place was not necessarily within his father's kingdom. He may have been born
when his father was on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the saint Kapila. Sakya died,
according to my authorities, in Assam, and left one son named Rahula Bhadra. (Set
Csoma de Koros in No. 20 of Journal of Bengal Asiatic Society for origin of Sakya-Van-
sika. Their primitive sect was Tatta, their next Kapila in Oude, whence they migrated
into Nepaul.) The Sakas were Kshatriyas of the solar line, according to Bauddha
authorities : nor is it any proof of the contrary that they appear not in the Brah-
manical genealogies. See note in the sequel.
f Kven if we begin with Asoka we can hardly assign less than six to eight centuries
for Buddhist predominance, nor less than about double that duration for more or
less of prevalence in the plains of India. (See note at page 76.)
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 7 1
Following1 the authority he has relied on, Mr. Upham was at liberty, there-
fore, to adopt a sense which -would consist with my interpretation of phrases
such as he alluded to, and which, of course, I found copiously scattered over the
works I consulted.
I always rendered them advisedly into English, so as to exclude the idea of a
priesthood, because I had previously satisfied myself, by separate inquiry and reflec-
tion that (hat cardinal tenet was repugnant to the genius of the creed, and repu-
diated by its primitive teachers. This important point may have been wrongly
determined by me ; but assuredly the determination of it upon such grounds
as Mr. Upham's is perfectly futile. Such words as Arhanta and Bandya, (which,
by the way, are the correct forms of the Barm3S3 Rahabun and the Japanese
Bonze,) no more necessarily mean priest, clergy, than do the Latin Jideles and
milites as applied to Christianity, as little can such a sense be ascribed to the word
Bhikshu, which means 'mendicant friar;' and as for the woid Sanylia, it is indis-
putable that it does not mean literally priest,** and that it does mean literally
1 congregation.'
If, as liemusat and Upham* appear to insist is the case, every monastic follower
of Buddha be a priest, then Bandya or Bonzef must be rendered into English by
the word ' clergyman.' But there will still remain as much difference between
Bandya and Sangha as, in Christian estimation, between an ordinary parson of
the present day, and one of the inspired primitive professors. Of old, the spirit
descended upon all alike ; and Sangha was this hallowed and gifted congrega-
tion. But the glory has passed away, and the term been long sanctified and set
apart. So has, in part, and for similar reasons, the word Arhata. But Bandya,
as a geneiic title, and Bhikshu, Sravaka, and Chailaka,| as specilic ones, are still
** Observations, p. 63.
* Bhikshu now appears to be the word rendered priest by us in Ceylon. But it
is unquestionably mendicant, holy beggar, as Thero is Ndyaka or Superior and Updsika
Servitor, of a Convent. See Fabian, 12, 172, 234.
t The possible meaning of this word has employed in vain the sagacity of sundry
critics. In its proper form of Bandya ( Vandya), it is pure Sanskrit, signifying' a person
ent tletl to reverence, and is derived fiom Vandaua.
Equally curio-is and instructive is it to find in the Sanskrit records of Buddhism
the solution of so many enigmas collected by travellers from all parts of Asia; e gnge,
Elphinstone's mound is a genuine Chaitya, and its proper name is Manik&laya, or th«
place of the precious relic. The mound is a tomb temple. The "tumuli eorum
Christ i altaria" of the poet, is more true of Buddhism than even of the most per-
verted model of Christianity ; the cause being probably the same, originally, in refer-
ence to both creeds, viz., persecution and martyrdom, with consequent divine honour*
to the sufferers. The Bauddhas, however, have in this matter gone a step further in
the descending --cale of representative adoration than the Catholics ; for they worship
the mere image of that structure which is devoted to the enshrining of the relics of
their saints ; they worship the architectural model or form of the Chaitya.
The Chaitya of Sambhuna h in Nvpaul is affirmed to cover Jyoti rupya Swavambfiu.
or the self-existent, in the form of flame : nor was there ever anything exclusive of
theism in the connection of tomb and temple : for Chaityas were always dedicated to
the Celestial Buddhas, not only in Ntpaul, but in the plains of India, as the
Chaityas of Sanchi, of Gyd, and of Bag, demonstrate. The Dhydni Buddhas appea:
in the oldest monuments of the continent and islands.
+ Buddhist monachism agrees surprisingly with Christian, whether owing to Nest<>-
rian infusion among the Uighurs or otherwise. Thus there are several orders of monk*
in both; in the former mendicant saints, naked or scantly clothed saints, and learned
72 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
every-day names of every-day people, priests, if it must be so, but as I conceive,
ascetics or monks merely. In the thick night of ignorance and superstition
which still envelopes Tibet, the people fancy they yet behold Arhatas in the
persons of their divine Lamas. No such imagination however possesses the heads
of the followers of Buddha in Nepaul, Ceylon, or Indo -China ; though in the last
mentioned country the name Arhata is popularly applied to the modern order of
the clergy, an order growing there, as in Nepaul, (if my opinions be sound) out of
that deviation from the primitive genius and type of the system which resulted
necessarily from its popular diffusion as the rule of life and practice of whole
nations.
In conclusion I would observe, that, in my apprehension, Remusat's interpreta-
tion of the various senses of the Triadic doctrine is neither very complete, nor
very accurate. In a religious point of view, by the first member is understood
the founder of the creed, and all who, following his steps, have reached the full
rank of a Mahayanika Buddha ; by the second, the law or scriptures of the sect ;
and by the third, the congregation of the faithful, or primitive church, or body
of original disciples, or any and every assemblage of true, i. e., of monastical
observers of the law, past or present.
In a philosophical light, the precedence of Buddha or of Dharma indicates the
theistic or atheistic school. With the former, Buddha is intellectual essence,§
the efficient cause of all, and underived. Dharma is material essence, || the plastic
cause, and underived, a co-equal biunity with Buddha ; or else the plastic cause, as
before, but dependent and derived from Buddha. Sangha is derived from, and
compounded of Buddha and Dharma, is their collective energy in the state of
action; the immediate operative cause of creation, its type or its agent.* With
the latter or atheistic schools, Dharma is Diva natura, matter as the sole
entity, invested with intrinsic activity and intelligence, the efficient and material
cause of all.
Buddha is derivative from Dharma, is the active and intelligent force of nature,
first put off from it and then operating upon it. Sangha is the result of that
operation ; is embryotic creation, the type and sum of all specific forms, which
are spontaneously evolved from the union of Buddha with Dharma. *f The
saints like the Franciscans, Dominicans, etc., and all of both creeds are usually social,
though hermits also be found.
§ Budhandtmaka iti Buddha, 'the intellectual essence is Buddha.'
\\ Dharanitmaka iti Dhirma, ' the holding, sustaining or containing substance is
Dharma.' Again, Prakriteswari Hi Prajna, 'the material goddess isPrajna,' one of the
names of Dharma. The word Prajna is compounded of the intensive prefix pra,
and jnana wisdom, or jna, to know. It imports the supreme wisdom of nature.
Dharma is the universal substratum, is that which supports all form and quality in
space. The Bauddha Dharma is the exact equivalent of the Brahmanical Mutra.
Matra is that which measures space ; Dharma that which supports form and quality
in space; both are very just and philosophical ideas relative to what we call matter
and substance. The substans or supporter of all phamomena, whatever its nature, is
Dharma.
* Sanmdaydtmika iti Sangha, 'the multitudinous essence is Sangha:' multitude is
the diaguosis of the versatile universe, as unity is of that of abstraction.
*t Prajnaopayatmakam Jagatah, from Prajna and Upaya, the world. Upaya is the
energy of Prajna.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 73
above are the principal distinc tions ; others there are which I cannot venture here
to dwell on.
With regard to Remusat's remark, " on voit que les trots noma sont places sur le
meme niveau, comme les trois representations des memes etres dans les planches
de M. Hodgson avec cette difference que sur celles-ci, Sangha est a droite, et Dharma a
gauche" I may just add, that the placing of Sangha to the right is a merely ritual
technicality, conformable to the pujd of the Dakshindchdras* and that all the philo-
sophers and religionists are agreed in postponing Sangha to Dharma.
I possess very many drawings exhibiting the arrangement mentioned by Remu-
sat ; but all subservient to mere ritual purposes and consequently worthy of no
serious attention. The Matantara, or variorum text of the Pujdris of the present
day, displays an infinite variety of formula, t illustrated by corresponding sculp-
tural and pictorial devices, embodied in those works, aud transferred from them
to the walls and interior of temples existing all over the valley of Nepaul.
THE SWABHAVIKA} DOCTRINE.
1. All things are governed or perfected by Swabhava;:): I too am governed by
Swabhava. (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
2. It is proper for the worshipper at the time of worship to reflect thus : I am
Nirl;pta,§ and the object of my worship isNhiipta; lam that God (Iswara) to
whom I address myself. Thus meditating, the worshipper shoidd make pujd to
all the celestials : for example, to Vajra Satwa Buddha, let him pay his adora-
tions, first, by recollecting that all things with their V'y'a Mantras come from
Swabhava in this order : — from the vija || of the letter Y, air ; from that of the
letter R, fire ; from that of the letter V, or B, water ; and from that of the letter
L, earth ; and from that of the letter S, Mount Surneru. On the summit of
Sumeru is a lotus of precious stones, and above the lotus, a moon crescent, upon
which sits, supremely exalted, Vajra Satwa. And as all (other) things proceed
from Swabhava, so also does Vajra Satwa, thence called the self-existent.**
(Pujd Kdnda.)
3. All things and beings (in the versatile universe) which are alike perishable, false
as a dream, treacherous as a mirage, proceed, according to some, from Swabhava
(nature), and according to others, from God (Iswara); and hence it is said, that
Swabhava and Iswara are essentially one, differing only in name.*f (Ashta
Sdhasrika.)
* The theistic sects so call themselves, styling their opposites, the Swabhavikas and
Prajnikas, Vamacharas. The Pawranikas, too, often designate the Tarrfrikas by
the Litter name, which is equivalent to left-handed.
t See the classified enumeration of the principal objects of Bauddha worship appen-
ded to this paper.
%Swa, own, and bhava, nature. Idiosyncrasis.
§ Intact and intangible, independent. (| Root, radix, seed.
** This may teach us caution in the interpretation of terms. I understand the doTna
to announce, that infinite intelligence is as much a part of the system of nature as
finite. The mystic allusion to the alphabet imports nothing more than its being the
indispensable instrument and means of knowledge or wisdom, which the Buddhists
believe man lias the capacity of perfecting up to the standard of infinity.
*J See note on No. 3, on the Yatnika system.
J
74 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
4. At the general dissolution of all things, the four elements shall be absorbe d
in Sunydkdra-Akdsa (sheer space) in this order : — earth in water, water in fire, fire
in air, and air in Akasa, and Akasa in Sunyata, and Sunyata in Tathata,* and
Tathata in Buddha, (which is Maha Sunyataf) and Buddha in Bhdvana, and Bha-
vana in Swabhava. And when existence is again evolved, each shall in the in-
verse order, progress from the other. From that Swabhava, which communicates
its property of infinity to Akasa, proceeded into being, in Akasa, the letter A, and
the rest of the letters; and from the letters Adi-BuddhaJ and the other Buddhas;
and from the Buddhas the Bodhi-Satwas, and from them the five elements, with
their Vija Mantras.§ Such is the Swabhavika Sansara ; which Sansara (universe)
constantly revolves between Pravritti and Nirvritti, like a potter's wheel. (Divya
Avaddna).
5. Maha Sunyata is, according to some Swabhava, and according to others,
Iswara it is bike the ethereal expanse, and self-sustained. In that Maha-Siin-
yata, the letter A, with the Vfja Mantra of Upaya,|| and the chief of all the
Vija Mantras of the letters, became manifest. (Rakshd Bhagavatl.J**
6. Some say creation is from God: if so, what is the use of Yatna or of
Karma ? *f That which made all things, will preserve and destroy them ; that
which governs Nirvritti governs Pravritti also. (Buddha Charitra Kdvga.J
7. The Sandal tree freely communicates its fragrance to him who tears off its
bark. Who is not delighted with its odour ? It is from Swabhava. (Kalpalatd.)
8. The elephant's cub, if he find not leafless and thorny creepers in the green
wood, becomes thin. The crow avoids the ripe mango.*J The cause is still
Swabhava. (Kalpalatd?)
9. Who sharpened the thorn ? Who gave their varied forms, colours, and habits
to the deer kind, and to the birds ? Swabhava ! It is not according to the will
(ichchhd) of any ; and if there be no desire or intention, there can be no intender
or designer.!* (Buddha Charitra.)
* Tathata, says the comment, is Satya Jnyana; and Bhavana is Bham or Satta, i. e.,
sheer entity.
f See note on quotation 1 of section on Adi-Buddha.
J Here again I might repeat the caution and remark at quotation 2. I have elsewhere
observed that Swabhavika texts, differently interpreted, form the basis of the Aiswarika
doctrine, as well as that the Buddhas of the Swabhavikas, win.) derive their capa-
city of identifying themselves with the first cattse from nature, which is that cause, are
as largely gifted as the Buddhas of the Aiswarikas, deriving the same capacity from
Adi-Buddha, who is that eaicse. See remarks on Renmsat in the Journal of the Bengal
Asiatic Society, Nos. 32, 33, ami 34.
§ A. Cunningham has found this literal symbolic representation of the elements, and
also that of the triad at Bhilsa. See his Bhilsa Topes, p. 355 f.
|| Updya, the expedient, the energy of nature in a state of activity. See the note
on No. 6 of the section Adi-SangJ&i.
**Th.eBakshaBhdgavati is the same work as the Prajnd Paramita.
*t See the note on quotation 9 of this head. Yatna and Burma may here be ren-
dered by intellect and morality.
*Z These are assumed facts in Natural History ; but not correct.
+* Here is plainly announced that denial of self-co or personality in the
causa which constitutes the great detect of the Swabhavika philosophy:
and if this denial amount to atheism, the Swabhavikas are, for the most part, atheists :
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 75
10. The conch, which is worthy of all praise, bright as the nioon, rated first
among excellent things, and which is benevolent to all sentient beings, though it
be itself insensate, yield? its melodious music, purely by reason of Swabhava.
(Kalpulatd.)
11. That hands and feet, and belly and back, and head, in fine, organs of
whatever kind, are found in the womb, the wise have attributed to Swabhava; and
the union of the soul or life (Atma) with body, is also Swabhava. (Buddha
Charitra Kdvya.)
12. From Swabhava (nature) all things proceeded; by Swabhava all things are
preserved. All their differences of structure and of habits are from Swabhava .
and from Swabhava comes their destruction. All things are regulated (suddha)
by Swabhava. Swabhava is known as the Supreme. (Pujd Kdnda, from the
Rakshd Bhagavati, where the substance is found in sundry passages.)
13. Akdsa is Swabhavika, because it is established, governed perfected (suddha),
by its own force or nature. All things are absorbed in it: it is uncreated or
eternal; it is revealed by its own force ; it is the essence (Atma**) of creation,
preservation, and destruction ; it is the essence of the five elements ; it is infinite ;
it is intellectual essence (Bodhandtmika) , The five colours are proper to it; and
the live Buddhas ; and the letters. It is Sunyata; self-supported; omnipresent:
to its essence belong both Pravritti and Nirvritti. This Akasa, which is omni-
present, and essentially intellectual,* because infinite things are absorbed into it,
is declared to be infinite. From the infinite nature of this Akasa were produced
all moving things, each in its own time, in due procession from another, and with
its proper difference of form and habits. From the secretf nature of Akasa pro-
their denial also of a moral ruler of the universe being a necessary sequel to it.
Excepting, however, a small and mean sect of them, they all affirm eternal necessary,
entity ; nor do any of them reject the soul's existence beyond the grave, or the doctrine
of atonement. Still Newton's is, upon the whole, the right judgment, 'Deus sine.provi-
dentia et dominio nihil est nisi .' The Swabhavika attempts to deify nature
are but a sad confusion of cause and effect. But, in a serious religious point of view,
I fail to perceive any superiority possessed by the immaterial pantheism of the Brah-
manists over the material pantheism of the Buddhists. Metempsychosis and absorption
are common to both. Both admit eternal necessary, entity or a substans for phe-
nomena ; both admit intellect; both deny two classes of phenomena as well as two
substantes for them ; both affirm the hoinogeneousness and unreality of all phenomena,
and lastly, both leave the personality and active dominion of the causa causarum
in obscurity.
** One comment on the comment says, Atma here means sthan or alaya, i. e., the
ubi of creation, etc.
* Akdsa is here understood as synonymous with Stinyatd, that is, as the elemental
state of all things, the universal ubi and modus of primal entity, in a state of abstrac-
tion from all specific forms: and it is worthy of note, that amidst these primal prin-
ciples, intelligence has admission. It is therefore affirmed to be a necessary ens, or
eternal portion of the system of nature, though separated from self-consciousness or
personality. In the same manner, Prajnd, the sum of all things, Diva natura, is
declared to be eternal, and essentially intelligent, though a material principle.
■j- Secret nature of Akasa, that is, Akasa or Ether has no sensible cognizable proper-
ties such as belong to the ordinary elements. The gradual evolution of all things in
Pravritti and their revolution into Nirvritti being perpetual, seem to prove that the
Buddhist Sunyata is not nothingness, but rather the utterly inscrutable character of
the ultimate semina rerum.
y6 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
■ceeded likewise, together with the Tija Mantra of each one, air with its own
mobility ; and from air, fire with its own heat ; and from fire, water with its
intrinsical coldness ; and from water, earth with its own proper solidity or heaviness ;
and from earth, Mount Sumeru with its own substance of gold, or with its own
sustaining power (Dhdtwdtmika) ; and from Sumeru, all the various kinds of
trees and vegetables ; and from them, all the variety colours, shapes, flavours, and
fragrances, in leaves, flowers, and fruits. Each derived its essential property (as
of fire to burn) from itself; and the order of its procession into existence from the
one precedent, by virtue of Swabhava,} operating in time. The several manners
of going peculiar to the six classes of animate beings (four-legged, two-legged,
etc.) and their several modes of birth, (oviparous, etc.§) all proceeded from
Swabhava. From the Swabhava of each mansion or habitat (Bhuvana) resulted
the differences existing between the several abodes of all the six orders of animate
beings. The existence of the foetus in the womb proceeds from the Swabhava
of the union of male and female ; and its gradual growth and assumption of
flesh, bones, skin, and organs, is caused by the joint energy of the Swabhava of the
foetus, and that of time, or the Swabhava of the foetus, operating in time. The
procession of all things from birth, through gradual increase, to maturity, and
thence, through gradual decay, to death, results spontaneously from the nature of
each being ; as do the differences appropriated to the faculties of the senses
and of the mind, and to those external things and internal, which are perceived
by them. Speech and sustenance from dressed food in mankind, and the want of
speech and the eating of grass in quadrupeds, together with the birth of birds
from eggs, of insects from sweat, and of the Gods (Devatds) without parentage
of any sort : all these marvels proceed from Swabhava. (Comment on the
Piijd Kdnda, quotation 12.)
THE AISWARIKA* SYSTEM.
1. The sell- existent God is the sum of perfections, infinite, external, without mem-
bers or passions; one with all things (in Pravritti), and separate from all things (in
Nirvritti), infiniformed and formless, the essence of Pravritti and of Nirvrittif.
(Swayambh it Pur ana . )
X By virtue of Swabhava and of time says another comment ; thus time stands out
like spare, as a something superior to all phenomena, and both are quasi deified by
Buddhists and by Brahmanists.
§ By etcsetera, understand always more Brahmanorum. That Buddhism forms an in-
tegral part of the Indian philosophy is sufficiently proved by the multitude of terms
and classifications common to it, and to Brahinanism. The theogony and cosmogony
of the latter are expressly those of the former, with sundry additions only, which serve
to prove the posteriority of date, and schismatical secession, of the Buddhists. M. Cousin,
in his course of philosophv, notices the absence of a sceptical school amongst the
Indian philosophers. Buddhism, when fully explained, will supply the desideratum ;
and I would here notice the precipitation with which we are now constantly drawing
general conclusions relative to the scope of Indian speculation, from a knowledge of
the Brahmanical writings only— writings equalled or surpassed in number and value
by those of the Buddhists, Jains, and other dissenters from the existing orthodox
temof Vyasa and Sankara Acharya, *From Iswara, 'God.'
t Pravritti, the versatile universe; Nirvritti, its opposite, this world and the next.
Pravritti is compounded of Pra, an intensitive, and vritti, action, occupation,
from the root va, to blow as the wind; Nirvritti, of Mr, a privative, and vritti, as before.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. J?
2. He whose image is Siinyata, who is like a cypher'' or point, infinite, unsus-
tained (in Nirvritti), and sustained (in Pravritti), whose essence is Nirvritti, of
whom all things are forms (in Pravritti), and who is yet formless (in Nirvritti),
who is the Iswara, the first intellectual essence, the Adi-Buddha, was revealed
by his own will. This self existent is he whom all know as the only true Being;
and, though the state of Nirvritti be his proper and enduring state, yet, for the sake
of Pravritti, (creation), having become Pancha-jnauatmika, he produced the five
Buddhas thus : — from Suvisuddhadharma-dhatuja-jnana, Vairochana, the su-
premely wise, from whom proceed the element of AkiUa, the organ of sight, and
colours ; and from Adarsana-jnana, Akshobhya, from whom proceed the element
of air, the organ of hearing, and all sounds; and from Pratyavekshana-jnana, Ratna
Sambhava, from whom proceed the element of fire, the organ of smell, and all
odours; and from Santa-jnana, Amitabha, from whom proceed the element of
water, the organ of taste, and all savours ; and from Krityanushtha-jnana, Amogha
Siddha, from whom proceed the element of earth, the organ of touch, and all
the sensible properties of outward things dependent thereon. All these five
Buddhas are Pravritti-karmanas, or the authors of creation. They possess the five
jndnas, the five colours, the five mt&drds, and the five vehicles.* The five ele-
ments, five organs of sense, and five respective objectst of sense, are forms of
them.J And these five Buddhas each produced a Bodhi-Satwa, (for the detail,
see Asiatic Society's Transactions, vol. xvi.) The five Bodhi-Satwas are Srishti-
karmanas, or the immediate agents of creation ; and each, in his turn, having
become Sarvaguna, (invested with all qualities, or invested with the three gunas,)
produced all things by his fiat. (Comment on quot. 1.)
3. All things existent (in the versatile universe) proceed from some cause (hetu):
that cause is the Tatkagata§ (Adi-Buddha) ; and that which is the cause of
1 1 This is the symbol of the Triad and of the Saktis.
* See Appendix A.
fit' Manas, as the sum of the faculties of sense, be excluded, we may lender the
passage as here ; else we must say elements, organs, and objects.
t The five Dhydni Buddhas are said to be Pancha Bhuta, Pancha Indriya and
Paneha Ayatana dkdra. Hence my conjecture that they are mere personifications,
according to a theistic theory, of the phenomena of the sensible world. The sixth
Dhydni Buddha is, in like manner, the icon and source of the sixth sense, ami its
object, or Manas and Dharma, i. c, the percipient principle, soul of the senses, or
internal sense, and moral phenomena. Manas is the Bhutu, Dhdrana the Indriya,
and Dharma the Ayatana, or mind, mental apprehension and the appropriate objects
of such apprehension, or all things. Mind is the seat of consciousness and perception;
whatever its essence, and is the elfective cause of all sensation and perception.
§ This important word is compounded of Tafhd, thus, and gata. gone or got, and
is explained in three ways. First, thus got or obtained, via., the rank of* a Tathdgata,
ohtained by observance of the rules prescribed for the acquisition of perfect wisdom
of which acquisition, total cessation of births is the efficient consequence. Second, thus
gone, viz., the mundane existence of the Tathdgata, gone so as never to return, mortal
births having been closed, and Nirvritti obtained, by perfection of knowledge.
Third, gone in the same manner as it or they (birth or births) came ; the sceptical and
necessitarian conclusion of those who held that both metempsychosis and absorption
are beyond our intellect (as objects of knowledge), and independent of our eilbrts (as
objects of desire and aversion — as contingencies to which we are liable) ; and that that
which causes births, causes likewise (proprio vigore) the ultimate cessation of them.
K
78 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
(versatile) existence is the cause of the cessation or extinction of all (such)
existence : so said Sakya Sinha. (Bhadra Kalpdvaddna.)*
4. Body is compounded of the five elements : soul, which animates it, is an emana-
tion from the self-existent. (SwayamMu-Furdna.)
5. Those who have suffered many torments in this life, and have been burned in
hell, shall, if they piously serve the Tri Ratna (or Triad), escape from the evils of
both. (Avaddna Kalpalatd.)
6. Subandhu (a Raja of Benares) was childless. He devoted himself to the
worship of Iswara (Adi-Buddba ;) and by the grace of Iswara a sugar-cane was pro-
duced from his semen, from which a son was born to him. The race remains
to this day, and is called Ikshava Aku. (Avaddna Kalpalatd?)
7. When all was void, perfect void, [Siinya, Maha Sunya] the triliteral syllable
Awn became manifest, the first created, the ineffably splendid, surrounded by all
the radical letters (Vija Akshara,) as by a necklace. In that Aum, he who is
present in all things, formless and passionless, and who possesses the Tri Ratna,
was produced by his own will. To him I make adoration. (Swayambhii-Purdna.)
THE KARMIKAf SYSTEM.
1 . From the union of Upaya and Prajna,^ arose Manas, the lord of the senses,
and from Manas proceeded the ten virtues and the ten vices ; so said Sakya
Sinha. [Divya Avaddna'].
The epithet Tathdgata, therefore, can only be applied to Adi-Buddha, the self-existent,
who is never incarnated, in a figurative, or at least a re.stiicted, sense ; — cessation of
human births being the essence of what it implies. I have seen the question and answer,
'what is the Tathdgata? It does not come again,' proposed and solved by the Rakshd
Bhdga/oaM, in the very spirit and almost in the words of the Vedas. One of a thou-
sand proofs that have occurred to me how thoroughly Indian Buddhism is. Ta-
thdgata, 'thus gone, or gone as he came,' as applied to Adi-Buddha, alludes to his
voluntary secession from the versatile world into that of abstraction, of which no
mortal can predicate more than that his departure and his advent are alike simple
results of his volition. Some authors substitute this interpretation, exclusively appli-
cable to Adi-Buddha, for the third sceptical and general interpretation above given.
The synonym Sugata, or 'well gone, (or well got, that is, happily got so as never to
be lost — or virtually got, that is, by rigid observance of the laws or rules prescribed, )
for ever emit of versatile existence,' yet further illustrates the ordinary meaning of the
word Tathdgata, as well as the ultimate scope and genius of the Buddhist religion, of
which the end is, freedom from metempsychosis ; and the means, perfect and absolute
enlightenment of the understanding, and consequent discovery of the grand secret
of nature. What that grand secret, that ultimate truth, that single reality, is. whether
all is God, or God is all, seems to be the sole proposition of the oriental philosophic
religionists, who have all alike sought to discover it by taking the high priori road.
That God is all, appears to be the prevalent and dogmatic determination of the Brah-
manists ; that all is God, the preferential but sceptical solution of the Buddhists ;
and, in a large view, I believe it would be difficult to indicate any further essential
difference between their theoretic systems, both, as I conceive, the unquestionable
growth of the Indian soil, and both founded upon transcendental speculations, con-
ducted in the very same style aud manner. See Guizot's Civilization, ii. 386. India
Ions; long preceded Europe in the paths of transcendental philosophy.
* Since ascertained that this passage was misquoted for me, and that it is in fact
equivalent to the Sarnath inscription, which should be rendered thus, "Of all things
cause-produced the causes hath the Tathagata explained. The great Sramana hath like-
wise explained the causes of the extinction of all things." For these causes of exist-
ence and non-existence see the next section.
fFrom Karma, morality, the moral law of the universe.
\ See the note on quotation 6 of the section Adi Saaigha. Also the note on quo-
tation 1 of the Ydtnika system.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 79
2. The being of all things is derived from belief, reliance, \j)ratyaya,~] in this
order : from false knowledge, delusive impression ; from delusive impression,
general notions ; from them, particulars ; from them, the six seats [or outward
objects] of the senses; from them, contact; from indefinite sensation and per-
ception; from it, thirst or desire; from it, einbryotic [physical] existence; from
it, birth or actual physical existence; from it, all the distinctions of genus and
species among animate things ; from them decay and death, after the manner and
period peculiar to each. Such is the procession of all things into existence from
Avidya, or delusion : and in the inverse order to that of their procession, thev retro-
grade into non-existence. And the egress and regress are both Karmas,* where-
fore this system is called Karmika. (Sakya to his disciples in the JRakshd
Bhdgavati.)
3. The existence of the versatile world is derived sheerly from fancy or imagi-
nation, or belief in its reality; and this false notion is the first Karma of Manas,
or first act of the sentient principle, as yet unindividualized (?) and unembodied.
This belief of the unembodied sentient principle in the reality of a mirage is atten-
ded with a longing after it, and a conviction of its worth and reality ; which
longing is called Sanskdra and constitutes the secondf Karma of Manas. When Sans-
kara becomes excessive, incipient individual consciousness arises [third Karma] :
thence proceeds an organised and definite, but archetypal body, the seat of that
consciousness, [fourth Karma] : from the last results the existence of [the six sen-
sible and cognizable properties of] naturalj objects, moral and physical, [fifth
*The Dasa Karma are, 1 Sanskdra, 2 Vijndna, 3 Ndmanipa, 4 Shaddyatana,
5 Vedand, 6 Trishnd, 7 Upddand, 8 Bhava, 9 Jdti, 10 Jardmarana.
f The first, not second ; ten in all.
J So I render, after much inquiry, the Shaddyatana, or six seats of the senses exter-
nal and internal ; and which are in detail as follows : Rupa, Sabda, Ganda, Rasa,
Sparsa, Dharma. There is an obvious difficulty as to Sparsa, and some also as to Dha * -
ma. The whole category of theAyatanas expresses outward things: and after much in-
vestigation, I gather, that under Rupa is comprised not only colour, but form too, so
far as its discrimination (or, in Kdrmika terms, its existence) depends on sight; and
that all other wispecified properties of body are referred to Sparsa, which therefore
includes not only temperature, roughness, and smoothness, and hardness, and its oppo-
site, but also gravity, and even extended figure, though not extension in the abstract.
Here we have not merely the secondary or sensible properties of matter, but also
the primary ones ; and, as the existence of the Ayatanas or outward objects perceived, is
said to be derived from the Indriyas, (or from Manas, which is their collective energy, )
in other words, to be derived from the sheer exercise of the percipient powers the Kar-
mika system amounts to idealism. Nor is there any difficulty thence arising in re-
ference to the Kdrmika doctrine, which clearly affirms that theory by its derivation of
all things from Pratyaya (belief), or from Avidyd (ignorance). But the Indriyas and
Ayatanas, with their necessary connexion, (and, possibly, also, the making Avidyd the
source of all things,) belong likewise to one section at least of the Swdbhdvika school ;
and, in regard to it, it will require a nice hand to exhibit this Berkleyan notion
existing co-ordinately with the leading tenet of the Sirdbhdrikas. In the way of
explanation I may observe, first, that the denial of material entity involved in the
Indriya and Ayatana theory (as in that of Avidyd) respects solely the versatile world
of Pravritti, or of specific forms merely, and does not touch the Kirvrittika state of
formative power and of primal substance, to which latter, in that condition, the quali-
ties of gravity, and even of extended figure, in any sense cognizable by human facul-
ties, are denied, at the same time, that the real and even eternal existence of a
substance, in that state, is affirmed.
Second, though Dharma, the sixth Ayatana, be rendered by virtue, the appropriated
80 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Karina.] When the archetypally embodied sentient principle conies to exercise itself
on these properties of things, then definite perception or knowledge is produced,
as that this is white, the other, black ; this is right, the other wrong, [sixth Kar-
ma.] Thence arises desire or worldly affection in the archetj-pal body, [seventh
Karma,] which leads to corporeal conception, [eighth,] and that to physical birth,
[ninth.] From birth result the varieties of genus and species distinguishing ani-
mated nature, tenth Karma,] and thence come decay and death in the time and
manner peculiar to each, [eleventh and final Karma]. Such is the evolution
of all things in Pravritti ; opposed to which is Nirvritti ; and the recurrence of
Xirvritti is the sheer consequence of the abandonment of all absurd ideas respec-
ting the reality and stability of Pravritti, or, which is the same thing, the
abandonment of Avidya; for, when Avidya is relinguished or overcome, Sanskara
and all the rest of the Karmas or acts of the sentient principle, vanish with it ;
and also, of course, all mundane things and existences, which are thence only
derived. Now, therefore, we see that Pravritti or the versatile world is the conse-
quence of affection for a shadow, in the belief that it is a substance ; and Nir-
vritti is the consequence of an abandonment of all such affection and belief. And
"Pravritti and Nirvritti, which divide the universe, are Karmas; wherefore the
system is called Karmika. [Comment on quotation 2.]
4. Since the world is produced by the Karma of Manas, or sheer act of the per-
cipient principle, it is therefore called Karmika. The manner of procession of all
things into existence is thus : from the union of Upaya* and of Prajna, Manas
proceeded; and from Manas, Avidya ; and from Avidya, Sanskara; and from Sans-
kara, Vijnana; and from Vijnana, Namanipa ; and from Narnariipa, the Shad
Ayatana ; t and from them, Yedana ; and from it, Trishna ; and from it, Upadana ;
object of the internal sense, it must be remembered, that most of the SwdbhaviTcas,
whilst they deny a moral ruler of the universe, affirm the existence of morality as a
part of the system of nature. Others again (the minority) of the Swabhavikas reject
the sixth Indriya, and sixth Ayatana, and, with them, the sixth Dhydni Buddha, or
Vajra Satwa, who, by the way, is the Magnus Apollo of the Tdntrikas, a sect the
mystic and obscene character of whose ritual is redeemed by its unusually explicit
enunciation and acknowledgment of a "God above all."
The published explanations of the procession of all things from Avidya appear to me
irreconcilably to conflict with the ideal basis of the theory.
*See Fahian, 159 and 291. See also Gogerly, p. 15, his enumeration is precisely ours,
though his explanation differs, and is I think unintelligible, as is also Colebrooke's.
See Ceylon Journal, No. 1.
t That is ; colour, odour, savour, sound, the properties dependent on touch, (which acre
baldness, and its opposite, temperature, roughness and smoothness, and also, I believe
gravity and extended figure,) and lastly, right and wrong. They are called the seats of
the six senses, the five ordinary, and one internal. In this quotation I have pur-
posely retained the original terms. Their import may be gathered from the imme-
diately preceding quotations and note, which the curious may compare with Mr. Cole-
brooke's explication. See his paper on the Bauddha philosophy, apud Trans. Roy..
As. Society, quarto vol. The following are the details of the three catagories, viz : —
Bhutas. Indriyas. Ayatanas.
Earth Skin Tangible properties.
"Water Palate Savours.
Fire Nose Odours.
Air Ear Sounds.
Akasa - Eye Colours, forms.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. o I
and from it, Bhava; and from it Jati ; and from it, Jaramarana. And from Jati-
rupya Manas, [t. e., the sentient principle in organized animate beings] emanated
the ten virtues and ten vices. And as men's words and deeds partake of the char-
acter of the one or the other, is their lot disposed ; felicity being inseparably bound
to virtue, and misery to vice, by the very nature of Karma.
Such is the procession of all things into existence from Manas through Avidya :
and when Avidya ceases, all the rest cease with it. Now, since Avidya is a false
knowledge, and is also the medium of all mundane existence, when it ceases, the
world vanishes ; and Manas, relieved from its illusion, is absorbed into Upaya
Prajna.f Pravritti is the state of things under the influence of Avidya ; and
the cessation of Avidya is Nirvritti ; Pravritti and Nirvritti are both Karmas.
[Another comment on Quot. 2.]
5. The actions of a man's former births constitute his destiny 4 [Punya ParodaJ]
G. He who has received from nature such wisdom as to read his own heart, and
those of all others, even he cannot erase the characters which Vidhdtri% has written
on his forehead. [Avaddna KalpalatdJ]
7. As the faithful servant walks behind his master when he walks, and stands
behind him when he stands, so every animate being is bound in the ohains of
Karma. (Avaddna Kalpalatd.)
8. Karma accompanies everyone, everywhere, every instant, through the forest,
and across the ocean, and over the highest mountains, into the heaven of Indra,
and into Tdtdla (hell); and no power can stay it. (Avaddna Kalpalatd.)
9. Kanala, son of king Asoka, because in one birth he plucked out the golden
eyes from a Chaitya* had his own eyes plucked out in the next ; and because
he in that birth bestowed a pair of golden eyes on a Chaitya, received himself in
the succeeding birth eyes of unequalled splendour. (Avaddna Kalpalatd.)
10. Sakya Sinha's son, named Rahula Bhadra, remained six years in the
womb of his mother Yasodhara. The pain and anxiety of mother and son were
caused by the Karmas of their former births. (Avaddna Kalpalatd.)
11. Although I had acquired (Sakya speaks of himself) a perfect body, still,
even in this body, defect again appeared; because I had yet to expiate a small
residue of the sins of former births. (Lalita Vistara.)
Bh-utas. Indriyas. Ayata
Manas Perception or conscious sensation. The sum of all phenomena which art
homogeneous and result from Manas h
and include thought, considered as one of the phsenomena of DivaNatura, or thought,
that is, human perception regarded as the sole measure of all things, thesole reality.
fThe Vdmdchdras gay, into Prajn i Up iya: see note on quotation ti of the section
Adi Sangha.
ZDaivya, identified with Adi Buddha by the theistic, and with Fate, by the athe-
istic doctors. The precise equivalent of the maxim itself is our ' conduct is fate.'
i. Brahma, but here understood to be Karma.
Chaitya is the name of the tomb temples or relic-consecrated churches ©f the Bud-
dhists. The essential part of the structure is the basal hemisphere: above this a
square neck or Gala always supports the acutely conical or pyramidal superstructure:
and on all four sides of that neck two eye, arc placed, which are typical of omniscience.
Whereverthe hemisphere is found, it is indisputable evidence of Buddhism, e. </., 'the
topes' of Manikydla aud of Pesh&war. In niches at the base of the hemisphere ar<
82 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
THE YATNIKA* SYSTEM.
1. Iswara (Adi-Buddha) produced Yatna froin Prajna ;§ and the cause of Pra -
vritti and Nirvritti is Yatna ; and all the difficulties that occur in the affairs of
this world and the next are vanquished by Yatna (or conscious intellectual effort.)
(Divya Avaddna.)
2. That above mentioned Iswara, by means of Yatna, produced the five Jnanas,
whence sprang the five Buddhas. The five Buddhas, in like manner, i. e., by means
of Yatna, produced the five Bodhisatwas ; and they again, by the same means,
created the greater Devatas from their bodies, and the lesser ones from the hairs of
the bodies. In like manner, Brahma created the three Lokas*[ and all moving and
motionless things. Among mortals, all difficulties are overcome by YTatna; for
example, those of the sea by ships, those of illness by medicine, those of travelling
by equipages — and want of paper, by prepared skin and bark of trees. And as all
our worldly obstacles are removed by Yatna, so the wisdom which wins Nirvritti
for us is the result of Yatna ; because by it alone are charity and the rest of the
virtues acquired. Since therefore all the goods of this world and of the next
depend upon Yatna, Sakya Sinha wandered from region to region to teach mankind
that cardinal truth. (Comment on quotation 1.)
3. That Adi-Buddha, whom the Swabkavikas call Swabhava, and the Ais-
warikas, Iswara, § produced a Bodhisatwa, who, having migrated through the three
worlds, and through all six forms of animate existence, and experienced the goods
and evils of every state of being, appeared, at last, as Sakya Sinha, to teach man-
kind the real sources of happiness and misery, and the doctrines of the four
schools of philosophy ;|| and then, by means of Yatna, having obtained Bodhi-
jnana, and having fulfilled all the Paramitas (transcendental virtues,) he at length
became Nirvana. (Dir.ya Avaddna.)
4. Sakya Sinha, having emanated from that self- existent, which, according to
some, is Swabhava, and, according to others, is Iswara, was produced for the.
purpose of preserving all creatures. He first adopted the Pravritti Marga (secular
frequently enshrined four of the fire Dhydni Buddhas, one opposite to each cardinal
point. Akshobhya occupies the eastern niche ; Matnasambhava, the southern ; Amitdbha
the western; and Amoglmsiddha, the northern. Vairochana, the first Dhydni Buddha
is supposed to occupy the centre, invisibly. Sometimes, however, he appears visibly,
being placed at the right-hand of Akshobhya.
* From Yatna, 'intellect, intellectual force and resource.'
f The celestial, terrene, and infernal divisions of the versatile universe.
$ This, as I conceive, is an attempt to remedy that cardinal defect of the older
Swdbhdvika school, viz., the denial of personality, and conscious power and wisdom
in the first cause. To the same effect is the Kdrmika assertion, that Manas procee-
ded from the union of Updya and Prajnd. Karma I understand to mean conscious
moral effort, and Yatna, conscious intellectual effort. Their admission in respect to
human nature implies its free will, as their assignation to the divine nature implies its
personality.
§ Passages of this entirely pyrrhonic tenure incessantly recur in the oldest and
highest authorities of the Buddhists; hence the assertion of the preface that Suga-
tism is rather sceptical than atheistically dogmatic.
Expressly called by my Bauddha pandit the Swdbhdvika, Aisivarika, Ydtnika, and
Kdrmika systems; and the terms well denote the things meant to be designated:
see note at p. 23.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 83
character,) and in several births exercised Yatna and Karma, reaping the fruits
of his actions in all the three worlds. He then exercised Yatna and Karma
in the Nirvritti Marga (ascetical or monastic character) essaying a release from this
mortal coil, fulfilling the ten virtues from the Satwa to the Dwapara Yuga,
till at last, in the Kali Yuga, having completely freed himself from sublunary
cares, having become a Bhikshuka,** and gone to Buddha Gaya, he rejected and
reviled the Brahnianical penance, did all sorts of true penance for six years under
the tree of knowledge on the banks of the Niranjana river; conquered the Narnu-
chimara,*|| obtained Bodhijnana, became the most perfect of the Buddhas,
seated himself among the Bodhisatwas, (Ananda Bhikshu and the rest,) granted
wisdom to the simple, fulfilled the desires of millions of people, and gave Moksha*
to them and to himself. (Lalita Vistara.)
5. A hare fell in with a tiger : by means of Y'atna the hare threw the tiger
into a well. Hence it appears that Yratna prevails over physical force, knowledge,
and the Mantras. (Bhadra Kalpdoaddna.) 6. Nara Sinha, Raja of Benares, was a
monster of cruelty. Satta Swama Raja, by means of Yatna, compelled him to
deliver up 100 Rajkumars, whom Nara Sinha had destined for a sacrifice to the
gods. (Bhadra Kalpdvaddna.)
7. Sudhana Kumara found a beautiful daughter of a horse-faced Raja named
Bruina. By means of Yratna he carried her off, and kept her ; and was immor-
talized for the exploit. (Swayambhu Parana.)
ADI-BUDDHA.f
1. Know that when, in the beginning, all was perfect void (Maha siinyata,;) and
the five elements were not, then Adi-Buddha, the stainless, was revealed in the
form of flame or light.
2. He in whom are the three ffimas, who is the Maha Miirti and the Visvarupa
(form of all things,) became manifest : he is the self-existent great Buddha, the
Adinatha, the Maheswara.
** Mendicant : one of the four regular orders of the Bauddhas. See the preface.
*||A Daitya of Kdnchomapura, personification of the principle of evil. .Bodhijn&na
is the •wisdom of Buddhism. Ananda was one of the first and ablest of Sakya's disciples.
The first code of Buddhism is attributed to him in conjunction with Kasyapa and Upali.
He succeeded the former as heresiarch.
* Emancipation, absorption. \ Adi 'first,' Buddha 'wise.'
t The doctrine of Sunyatd is the darkest corner of the metaphysical labyrinth. Eigh-
teen kinds of Sunyatd are enumerated in the Bakshd Bhdgavati. I understand it
to mean generally .spat1!', which some of our philosophers have held to be a pie',
others a vacuum. In the transcendental sense of the Buddhists, it signifies not merely
the universal ubi, but also the modus existendi of all tilings in the state of quiescence
and abstraction from phsenomenal being. The Buddhists have eternised matter or
nature in that state. The energy of nature ever is, but is not ever exerted; and when
not exerted, it is considered to be void of all those qualities which necessarily imply per-
ishableness, and, which is the same thing, of all those qualities which are cognisable
01 distinguishable, and hence the energy in that state is typed by sheer space. Most of
the Buddhists deem (upon different grounds) all phenomena to l-o as purely illusory
as do the Yedantists. The phamomena of the latter are sheer energies of God ; those of
the former are sheer energies of Nature, deified and substituted for God. See note
on <mot. 6 of this section Adi Sangha. The AiswarUcas put their Adi Buddha in
place of the nature of the older Swdbhdvikas. See Journal of As. Soc. No. 33, Art. 1.
84 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
3. He is the cause of all existences in the three worlds ; the cause of their well-
being also. From his profound meditation (Dhyana,) the universe was produced
hy him.
4. He is the self-existent, the Iswara, the sum of perfections, the infinite, void
of members or passions : all things are types of him, and yet he has no type: he
is the form of all things, and yet formless.
5. He is without parts, shapeless, self-sustained, void of pain and care, eternal
and not eternal;* him I salute. (Kdranda Vyuhu.)
6. Adi-Buddha is without beginning. He is perfect, pure within, the essence
of the wisdom of thatness, or absolute truth. He knows all the past. His words
are ever the same.
7. He is without second. He is omnipresent. He is the Nairatmya lion to the
Kutirthya deer.f (Ndma sangiti.)
8. I make salutation to Adi-Buddha, who is one and sole in the universe ;
who gives every one Bodhi-jnana ; whose name is Upaya ; who became manifest
in the greatest Siinyata, as the letter A. Who is the Tathagata ; who is known
only to those who have attained the wisdom of absolute truth. (Ndma sangiti.)
9. As in the mirror we mortals see our forms reflected, so Adi-Buddha is known
(in Pravritti) by the thirty-two lakshanas and eighty anuvinjanas. (Ndma sangiti.)
10. As the rainbow, by means of its five colours, forewarns mortals of the coming
weather, so does Adi-Buddha admonish the world of its good and evil actions by
means of his five essential colours. § (Ndma sangiti.)
11. Adi-Buddha delights in making happy every sentient being; he tenderly
loves those who serve him. His majesty fills all with reverence and awe. He is
the assuager of pain and grief. (Ndma sangiti.)
12. He is the possessor of the ten virtues; the giver of the ten virtues; the
lord of ten heavens ; lord of the Universe ; present in the ten heavens. (Ndma
sangiti.)
13. By reason of the ten jnanas, his soul is enlightened. He too is the en-
lightener of the ten jnanas. He has ten forms and ten significations, and ten
strengths, and ten vasitas. He is omnipresent, the chief of the Munis. {Ndma
sangiti.)
*One in Nirvrttti; the other in Pravritti; and so of all the preceding contrasted epi-
thets. Nirvritti is quiescence and abstraction : Pravritti, action and concretion. All
the schools admit these two modes, and thus solve the difficulty of different properties
existing in cause and in eifects.
f Comment says, that Nairdtmya is ' Sarva Dharmdndm nirdbhdsa lakshanam, ' that
is, all things are unreal; and that Tirtha means Moksha, and Kutiriha, any perver-
sion of the doctrine of Moksha, as to say it consists in absorption into Brahma : and it
explains the whole thus, ' He thunders in the ears of all those who misinterpret Moksha,
there is no true Moksha but SUmyatd.' Another comment gives the sense thus, dividing
the sentence into two parts, ' there is no dtmd (life or soul) without him: he alarms the
wicked as the lion the deer.' The first commentator is a Swdbhdvika ; the second, an
one.
§ White, blue, yellow, red. and green, assigned to the five Dhydni Buddhas. For a
detail of the lakshanas , anuvinjanas, balas, vasitds, etc , of the neighbouring quotations,
see Appendix A.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 85
14. He has five bodies, and five jnanas, and five sights ; is the miikat of the
five Buddhas, without partner. (Ndma sangiti.)
15. He is the creator of all the Buddhas : the chief of the Bodhisatwas are
cherished by him. He is the creator of Prajna, and of the world ; himself
unmade. Aliter, he made the world by the assistance of Prajna ; himself un-
made. He is the author of virtue, the destroyer of all things.* (Ndma sangiti.)
16. He is the essence of all essences. He is the Vajra-atma (eternal being).
He is the instantly produced lord of the universe; the creator of Akasa. He
assumes the form of fire, by reason of the Prajnariipi-jnana, to consume the
straw of ignorance. (Ndma sangiti.)
ADI PEAJNA,t OR DHARMA.
1. I salute that Prajna Paramita, who by reason of her omniscience causes the
tranquillity-seeking Sravakasf to obtain absorption ; who, by her knowledge of all
the ways of action, causes each to go in the path suited to his genius ; of whom
wise men have said, that the external and internal diversities belonging to all
animate nature, are produced by her ; who is the mother of Buddha (Buddha
Matra), of that Buddha to whose service all the Sravakas and Bodhisatwas dedi-
cate themselves. (Panchavinsati Sdhasrika.)
2. First air, then fire, then water, then earth, § and in the centre of earth,
Sumeru, the sides of which are the residence of the thirty-three millions of gods
(Devatas,) and above these, upon a Lotos of precious stones, sustaining the
mansion of the moon (or a moon-crescent), sits Prajna Paramita, in the Lallita-
asan manner ; || Prajna, the mother of all the gods (Prasu-bhagavatang,) and
without beginning or end, (anadyanta.) (Bhadra Kalpdvaddna.)
3. I make salutation to the Prajna Devi, who is the Prajna Paramita, the
Prajnarupya, the Nirrupya, and the universal mother. (Pujd kdnda.)
4. Thou Prajna, art like Akasa, intact and intangible; thou art above all
human wants ; thou art established by thy own power. He who devoutly
serves thee serves the Tathagata also. (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
5. Thou mighty object of my worship! thou Prajna, art the sum of all
good qualities; and Buddha is the Guru of the world. The wise make no
distinction between thee and Buddha. (Ashta Sdhatrika.J
* The comment on this passage is very full, and very curious, in as much as it reduces
many of these supreme deities to mere parts of speech. Here is the summing up of the
comment : ' He ( Adi- Buddha ) is the instructor of the Buddhas and of the Bodhi-
satwas. He is known by the knowledge of spiritual wisdom. He is the creator and des-
troyer of all things, the fountain of virtue. ' Spiritual wisdom is stated to consist of
Sila, Samddhi, Prajmi, Vimukti, aofiJn&na.
f Adi 'first,' Prajna 'supreme wisdom, nature:' see p. 12.
I Name of one of the ascetical orders of Buddhists.
§ In this enumeration of material elements, Akasa is omitted: but it is mentioned,
and most emphatically, in quotation 4, as in the fifty other places quoted. In like man-
ner, the five elements are frequently mentioned without allusion to the sixth, which
however occurs in fit places. Omission of this sort is no denial.
|| i. c., one leg tucked under the seat : the other, advanced and resting on the bow of
the moon-crescent.
Kl
86 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
6. O thou who art merciful to thy worshippers, the benevolent, knowing thee
to be the source of Bauddha excellence, attain perfect happiness by the worship
of thee ! (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
7. Those Buddhas who are merciful, and the Gurus of the world, all such
Buddhas are thy children. Thou art all good, and the universal mother (Saka-
lajagat Pita Mahi.) (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
8. Every Buddha assembling his disciples instructs them how from unity thou
becomest multiformed and many named. (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
9. Thou comest not from any place, thou goest not to any place. Do the wise
nowhere find thee ?* (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
10. The Buddhas, Pratyeka Buddhas, and Sravakas,f have all devoutly served
thee. By thee alone is absorption obtained. These are truths revealed in all
Sastras. (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
11. What tongue can utter thy praises, thou of whose being (or manifestation)
there is no cause but thy own will. No Purana hath revealed any attribute by
which thou rnayest certainly be known. (Ashta Sdhasrika.)
12. When all was Svinyata, Prajna Devi was revealed out of Akasa with
the letter U ; Prajna, the mother of all the Buddhas and Bodhisatwas, in whose
heart Dharma ever resides; Prajna, who is without the world and the world's
wisdom, full of the wisdom of absolute truth ; the giver and the ikon of that wis-
dom; the ever living (Sanatani); the inscrutable; the mother of Buddha.^
(Pty'd kdnda.)
13. O Prajna Devi! thou art the mother (Janani) of all the Buddhas,
the grandmother of the Bodhisatwas, and great grandmother of all (other)
creatures ! thou art the goddess (Isanf.) (Pujd kdnda.)
14. Thou, Sri Bhagavati Devi Prajna, art the sum of all the sciences, the
mother of all the Buddhas, the enlightener of Bodhijnana, the light of the uni-
verse ! (Gimakdranda Vyiiha.)
15. The humbler of the pride of Namuchimara,§ and of all proud ones-
the giver of the quality of Satya ; the possessor of all the sciences ; the Laksh-
mi; the protector of all mortals; such is the Dharma Ratna. (Gunakdranda
Vyuha.)
16. All that the Buddhas have said, as contained in the Mahayana Sutra and
the rest of the Sutras, is also Dharma Ratna.* (Gunakdranda Vyiiha.)
* The force of the question is this, the wise certainly find thee,
+ The Buddhas are of three grades: the highest is Mahdydna, the medial, Prat-
yeka, and the lowest, Srdvaka. These three grades are called collectively the Tri-
yiina, or 'three chariots,' bearing their possessors to transcendental glory. The Tri-
ydna are otherwise explained as three paths leading to different degrees of beatitude
suited to the different capacities of those who propose to follow them. ° The Mahdydna
is the great or popular, or the great or most excellent.
% Sugataja, which the Vdmdchdras render, 'of whom Buddha was born;' the Dak-
sihiiiicJidras, 'born of Buddha, or goer to Buddha,' as wife to husband.
§ Bauddha personification of the principle of evil.
* Hence the scriptures are worshipped as forms of Adi Dharma. Sutra means
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 87
17. Because Buddha sits on thy brow, the splendour thence derived to thy form
illuminates all the ethereal expanse, and sheds over the three worlds the light
of a million of suns ; the four Devatas, Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesa, and Indra, are
oppressed beneath thy foot, which is advanced in the Alir-Asana. O Arya Tara !
he who shall meditate on thee in this form shall be relieved from all future births
(Sarakd Dhdrd.f)
18. Thy manifestation, say some of the wise, is thus ; from the roots of the
hairs of thy body sprang- Akasa, heaven, earth, and hades, together with their
inhabitants, the greater Devatas, the lesser, the Daityas, the Siddhas, Gan-
dharbas, and Nag-as. So too (from thy hairs,) wonderful to tell! were produced
the various mansions of the Buddhas, together with the thousands of Buddhas
who occupy them.f From thy own being were formed all moving- and motionless
things without exception. {Sarakd Dhdrd.)
19. Salutation to Prajna Devi, from whom, in the form of desire, the pro-
duction of the world was excellently obtained, § who is beautiful as the full moon?
the mother of Adi Buddha, (Jinendra Matra,) and wife of (the other) Buddha,
who is imperishable as adamant. (Sddhana Maid.)
20. That Yoni, from which the world was made manifest, is the Trikonakara
Yantra.|| In the midst of the Yantra or trikon (triangle) is a binda (point,cypher):
from that binda, Adi Prajna revealed herself by her own will. From one
side of the triangle Adi Prajna produced Buddha, and from another side,
Dharma, and from the third side, Sangha. That Adi Prajna is the mother
of that Buddha who issued from the first side; and the Dharma, who issued
from the second side, is the wife of the Buddha of the first side, and the
mother of the other Buddhas. (Comment on quotation 19.)
21. Salutation to Prajna Paramita, the infinite, who, when all was void, was
revealed by her own will, out of the letter U. Prajna, the Sakti of Upaya,
the sustainer of all things, (Dharmiki) the mother of the world, (Jagan-mata ;)
the Dkyanariipya, the mother of the Buddhas. The modesty of women is a form
literally thread of (discourse,) aphorism. Sdhya, like other Indian sages, taught
orally, and it is doubtful if he himself reduced his doctrines to a written code, though
the great scriptures of the sect are now generally attributed to him, though in fact
reduced to writing and systematized by his disciples Kasyapa, Ananda, and Upali.
Sutra is now the title of the books of highest authority among the Bauddhas.
f Composed by Sarvajna MUrapdda of Kashmir, and in very high esteem, though not
of scriptural authority.
X These thousands of BuddJuis of mortal mould are somewhat opposed to the so-called
simplicity of Buddhism II whatever werethe primitive doctrines of Sdhya it is certain
that the system attributed to him, and now found in the written authorities of the
sect, is the very antipodes of simplicity.
% Dharmodaya-satigata Kdmarupini, variously rendered, 'well got from the rise
of virtue,' 'well got from the rise or origin of the world;' also as in text, Dharmo-
daya, the source of all things, signifies like wise the Yoni, of which the type is a tri-
angle. See 20. The tiiangle is a familiar symbol in temples of the Buddha Sukti*,
and of the Triad. The point in the midst represents either Adi-Buddha or Adi
Prajna, according to the theistic or atheistic tendency of his opinions who uses it.
Our commentator is of the Vdmdchdra or atheistic school, and such also is his
text. (See Kavenshaw in the J.K.A.S. on the Khat Kon Yantra.)
|| See J.R.A.S. xiii. 1, 79, and 171.
88 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
of her, and the prosperity of all earthly things. She is the wisdom of mortals,
and the ease, and the joy, and the emancipation, and the knowledge. Prajna
is present everywhere. (Sddhana Maid.)
ADI SANGHA.*
1. That Amitabha, by virtue of his Siinta-jnana, created the Bodhi-satwa named
Padma-pani, and committed to his hands the lotos. f (Gunakdranda Vyuha.)
2. From between his (Padma-pani's) shoulders sprang Brahma ; from his fore-
head, Maha Deva ; from his two eyes, the sun and moon ; from his mouth,
the air; from his teeth, Saraswati; from his belly, Varuna; from his knees,
Lakshmi ; from his feet, the earth ; from his navel, water ; from the roots of
his hair, the Indras and other Devatas. (Gunakdranda Vyiiha.)
3. For the sake of obtaining Nirvritti, I devote myself to the feet of Sangha
who, having assumed the three Gunas, created the three worlds. (P&jtt kdnda.)
4. lie (Padma-pani) is the possessor of Satya Dharma, the Bodhi-satwa, the
lord of the world, the Maha-satwa, the master of all the Dharmas. (Gunakd-
randa Vyiiha.)
5. The lord of all worlds, (Sarvalokadhipa,) the Sri-man, the Dharma Raja,
the Lokeswara, sprang from Adi-Buddha** (Jinatmaja.) Such is he whom men
know for the Sangha Ratna. (Gunakdranda Vyiiha.)
6. From the union of the essences of Upaya and of Prajna*a proceeded the world
which is Sangha.
P. S. With regard to the consistency or otherwise of the view of the subject
taken in the sketch of Buddhism, with the general tenor of the foregone quota-
* Adi 'first,' Sangha 'congress, union.'
f Type of creative power. Arnitdbha is the fourth Dhydni or celestial Buddha:
Padma-pdni is his dEon and executive minister. Padma-p&ni is the prozsens Lints
and creator of the existing system of worlds. Hence his identification with the third
member of the Triad. He is figured as a graceful youth, erect, and bearing in either
hand a lotos and a jewel. The last circumstance explains the meaning of the cele-
brated Shadakshari Mantra, or six-lettered invocation of him, viz., Om! Muni r
horn! of which so many corrupt versions and more corrupt interpretations have
appeared from Chinese, Tibetan, Japanese, Mongolian, and other sources. The m
in question is one of three, addressed to the several members of the Triad. 1. Om
sarva vidyc horn. 2. Om Prajndye horn. 3. Om mani-padmc horn. 1. The mystic tri-
form Deity is in the all-wise (Buddha). 2. The mystic triform Deity is in Prajna
(Dharma). 3. The mystic triform Deity is in him of the jewel and lotos (Sangha).
But the prcesens Di/vus, whether he be Augustus or Padmt pdni, is everything with the
many. Hence the notoriety of (his mantra, whilst the others are hardly ever heard of,
and have thus remained unknown to our travellers.
** From Arnitdbha Buddha immediately : mediately from Adi-Buddha.
*aSuch is the Aiswarilea reading. The Prdjnikas read ' from the union of Prajna
and Updya.'
With the former, Updya is Adi-Buddha, the efficient and plastic cause, or only the
former j and Prajnd is Adi DJwrma, plastic cause, a biunity with Buddha, or only a
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 89
tions, I would observe, that the ideal theory involved in the Prajnika-Swabka-
vika, and in the Karmika doctrines, was omitted by me in the sketch, from some
then remaining hesitation as to its real drift, as well as its connexion with those
schools, and no other. Upon this exclusive connexion I have still some doubt. For
the rest, I retain unchanged the opinions expressed in the sketch, that the Karmika
and Yatnika schools are more recent than the others — that they owe their ori-
gin to attempts to qualify the extravagant quietism of the primitive Swabhavikas,
and even of the Aiswarikas — and that their contradistinguishing mark is the
preference given by them respectively to mortals, or to intellect, with a view to
final beatitude. The assertion of the Ashtasahasrika, that Swabhava or nature
absolutely disposes of us, not less than the assertion of other works, that an imma-
terial abstraction so disposes of us, very logically leads the author of the Buddha
Oharitra to deny the use of virtue or intellect. To oppose these ancient notions
was, I conceive, the especial object of those who, by laying due stress on Kar-
ma and Yratna, gave rise to the Karmika and Yatnika schools. But that these
latter entertained such just and adequate notions of God's providence, or man's free
will, as we are now familiar with, it is not necessary to suppose, and is altogether
improbable. None such they could entertain if, as I believe, they adopted the more
general principles of their predecessors. The ideal theory or denial of the reality
of the versatile world, has, in some of its numerous phrases, a philosophical
foundation ; but its prevalence and popularity among the Buddhists are ascribable
principally to that enthusiastic contempt of action for which these quietists
are so remarkable. Their passionate love of abstractions is another prop of this
theory.
product. With the latter, Updya is the energy of Prajnd, the universal material cause.
The original aphorism, as I believe, is, ' Prajnopdyutmctkam jagatah,' which I thus
translate ; ' From the universal material principle, in a state of activity, proceeded the
world. ' This original Sutra has, however, undergone two transformations to suit it to
the respective doctrines of the Triadic Aiswarikas and of the Kdrmikas. The ver-
sion of the former is, Updyaprajndtmakam sangha, that of the latter is, Updya-
prajndtmakam manas. Of both, the Updya is identical with Adi-Bvddha, and the
Prajnd, with Adi Dharma. But the result— the unsophisticated jagat of the Prdjni-
kas, became Adi Sangha, a creator, with the Aiswarikas-; and Manas, the sentient prin-
ciple in man, the first production, and producer of all other things, with the Kdrmi-
kas. Avidj/d, or the condition of mundane things and existences, is an illusion, alike
with the Prdjnikas aad with the Kdrmikas. But, whilst the former consider Avndyd
the universal affection of the material and immediate cause of all things whatever; the
latter regard Avidyn i as an affection of manas merely, which they hold to be an im-
material principle and the mediate cause of all things else, Adi-Bvddha being their final
cause. The phenomena of both are homogeneous and unreal ■ but the PrajnikttB
derive them, directly, from a material source — the Kdrmikas, indirectly, from an
immaterial fount. Our sober European thoughts and languages can scarcely cope
with such extravagancies as these : but it would seem we must call the one doctrine
material, the other, immaterial, idealism.
The phsenomena of the Prdjnikas arc sheer energies of matter : those of the Kdrmi-
kas, are sheer (human) perceptions. The notions of the former rest on general grounds
— those of the latter, on particular ones, or (as it has been phrased) upon the putting
the world into a man's self: the Greek "panton metron anthropos."
9o
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
APPENDIX A.
DETAIL OF THE PRINCIPAL ATTRIBUTES OF ADI-BUDDHA AND OF THE
EIGHTEEN SUNYATA.
THE THIRTY-TWO LAKSHANA.*
1. Chakrankitapanipadatalata.
2. Supratiskthitapanipadatalata.
3. Jalabuddhavaj rangulipanipadatalata.
4. Mridutarunahastapadatalata.
5. Saptochhandata.
6. Dirghangulita.
7. Ayataparshnita.
8. Rijugatrata.
9. Utsangapadata.
10. Urdhangaroniata.
11. Aineyajungliata.
12. Paturubahuta.
13. Koshagatavastiguhyata.
14. Suvaniavarnata.
15. Suklachliavita.
16. Pradaksliinavartaikaromata.
17. Urnalankritarnukkata.
18. Sinkapiirvardkakayata.
19. Susambhritaskandhata.
20. Ckittantarangata.
21. Rasarasagrata.
22. Nyagrodbaparimandalata.
23. Usbnisbasiraskata.
24. Prabbutajihwata.
25. Prastarubarata.
26. Sinbabanuta.
27. Suklabanuta,
28. Samadantata.
29. Hansa\dkrantagamita.
30. Aviraladantata.
31. Saraacbatwarinsaddantata.
32. Abbinilanetrata.
THE EIGHTY VYANJANA.
1. Atamranakbata.
2. Snigdbanakhata.
3. Tunganakbata.
4. Cbitrangulita.
5. Anupurvangulita.
6. Giidbasirata.
7. Nirgrantbisirata.
8. Giidbagulpbata.
9. Avisbamapadata.
10. Sinbaviki-antagainita.
11. Nagavikrantagamita.
12. Hansavikrantagamita.
13. Vrisbabbavikrantagamita.
14. Pradaksbinagamita.
15. Cbarugamita.
16. Avakragamita.
17. Vrittagatrata.
18. Mrisbtagatrata.
* Reinusat in his Melanges applie
41. Suchasamudacharata.
42. Vyapagatatilakalagatrata.
43. Gandhasadrisasukumarapanita.
44. Snigdbapanilekhita.
45. Gambbirapanilekbita.
46. Ayatapanilekbita.
47. Natyayatavacbanata.
48. Birabapratibinibosthata.
49. Mridujihwata.
50. Tanujibwata.
51. Megbagavjitagbosbata.
52. Raktajibwata.
53. Madhuracharumanj uswarata.
54. Vrittadansbtrata.
55. Tiksbnadausbtrata.
56. Sukladansbtrata.
57. Samadansbtrata.
58. Anupurvadansbtrata.
s all these to Sakya.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
91
19. Anuptirvagatrata. 59
20. Suchigatrata. 60,
21. Mridugatrata. 01.
22. Visuddhagatrata. 62,
23. Paripiirnavyanjanata. 63.
24. Prithucharuniandalagatrata. 64.
25. Sarnakrarnata. 65.
26. Visuddkanetrata. GO.
27. Sukunmragatrata. 07.
28. Adinagatrata. 08.
29. Utsahagatrata. 09.
30. Gambhirakukshita. 70.
31. Prasannagatrata. 71.
32. Suvibhaktangapratyangata. 72.
33. Vitimirasuddhalokata. 73.
34. Vitungakukshita. 74,
35. Mrishtakukskita. 75,
30. Abhayakukshita. 70,
37. Akskobhakukskita. 77.
38. Gambkiranabhita. 78.
39. Pradakskinavartanabhita. 79.
40. Saruantaprasadikata. 80.
. Tungauasikata.
Sucbinasikata.
Visalanetrata.
Cbittrapaksbmata.
Sitasitakamaladalanetrata.
Ayatakrikata.
Suklabbrukata.
Susnigdbabbnikata.
Pmayatabbujalatata.
Samakarnata.
Anupabatakarnendriyata.
Aparistbanalalatata.
Pritbulalatata.
S uparipiirnottamangata .
Bbramarasadrisakesata.
Cbittrakesata.
Gubyakesata.
Asangunitakesata.
Aparushakesata.
Surabbikesata.
Srivatsamuktikanandyata.
Vartulacbibnitapanipadatalata.
THE FIVE VABANA.
1. Sweta. 2. Nfla, 3. Pita. 4. Rakta. 5. Syaina.
THE TEN PABAMITA.
1. Dana.
0. Prajna.
2. Sfla.
7. Upaya.
3. Santi.
8. Bala.
4. Vfrya.
9. Pranidbi.
5. Dbyana.
10. Jnaua.
THE TEN BHUVANA.f
1. Pramudita.
6. Abbimukbi.
2. Vimala.
7. Durangama.
3. Prabbakari.
8. Sadbumatf.
4. Arcbisbmati.
9. Samantaprabba,
5. Sudurjaya.
10. Dbarruaniegba.
*Burnouf renders tbe ten: Charity, Morality, Patience, Industry, Meditation,
Ingenuity, Wish or Prayer, Fortitude, Foreknowledge, Method.
T Compare pp. 42 43, We have here no heaven for Adi-Buddha, nor any for
any one of the five Dhyani Buddhas.
92
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
1. Dulakliajnana.J
2. Sarnudyajnana.J
3. Nirodkajnana.}
4. Margajnana.J
5. Dharmajnana.J
1. PrithivyaMra.*
2. Jalakara.*
3. Agnyakara.*
4. Vayvakara.*
5. Akasakara.*
THE TEN JNANAS.
6. Arthajnana.§
7. Sam vrittij nana. §
8. Parachittajnana.§
9. Kshayajnana.§
10. Anutpadajnana.§
THE TEN AKARA.
6. Akasanirodkakara.t
7. Vayunirodkakara.t
8. Agninirodkakara.t
9. Jalanirodhakara.t
10. Pritkivinirodhakara.t
THE TEN ARTHA.
1. Pranartha.
2. Apanartha.
3. Sarnanartha
4. TJdanartha.
5. Vyanartha.
0. Kurmartha.
7. Krikarartha.
8. Nagartha.
9. Devadatartha.
10. Dhananj ayartha.
THE TEN BALA.
1. Sthanasthanaj nanabala.
2. Karmavipakajnanabala.
3. Nanadhatuj nanabala.
4. Nanavirnuktijnanabala.
5. Sadindriyaparaparaj nanabala.
6. Sarvatragamipratipattij nanabala.
7. Dhyanavimokshasamadhisamapattisan-
klesa\*yavadanastlianajnanabala.
8. Purvamvasanusmritijnanabala.
9. Cbyutyntpattij nanabala.
10. Asravakshayajnanabala.
THE TEN VASITA.
1. Ayurvasita.
2. Cbittavasita.
3. Parishkaravasita.
4. Dbarniavasita.
5. Avadhivasita.
6. Janniavasita.
7. Adkiinuktivasita.
8. Pranidhanavasita.
9. Karmavasita.
10. Jnanavasita.
THE FIVE KAYA,
1. Dbarmakaya. 2. Sambbogakaya. 3. Mrrnanakaya.
4. Mahasukbakaya. 5. Jnanakaya.
% Five in Nirvritti. § Five in Pravritti.
* Evolution of the five elements in Pravritti.
T Revolution of the five elements in Nirvritti,
|| Five in Pravritti and five in Nirvritti ; and so of the Bala and Vasita.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 93
THE FIVE CHAKSHU.
1. Mansachaksku. 4. Divyachaksku.
2. Dkarniackaksku. 5. Buddkackaksku.
3. Prajnanackaksku.
THE EIGHTEEN SUNYATA.
1. Adkyatinasiinyata. 10. Anavaragrastinyata.
2. Bakirdkasunyata. 11. Anavakarasunyata.
3. Adkyatmabakirdkasunyata. 12. Prakritisunyata.
4. Sunyatasunyata. 13. Sarvadkarinasiinyata.
5. Makasunyata. 14. Salakskanasiinyata.
G. Parainartkasiinyata. 15. Anupalambkasiinyata.
7. Sanskritasiinyata. 16. Abkavasunyata.
8. Asanskritasiinyata. 17. Subkavasunyata.
9. Atyantasunyata. 18. Abkavasubkavasunyatii.
MATANTABA TWENTY SUNYATA.
19. Lakskanasiinyata. 20. Alakskanasiinyata.
APPENDIX B.
CLASSIFIED ENUMERATION OF THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS OF
BAUDDHA WORSHIP.
Ekdmndya,
Upaya.
Adi-Buddka.
M aka- Vair ockan a .
Ekdmndyi.
Prajna.
Prajna-paraniita.
Dwydmndya.
1. Upaya.* 2. Prajna.*
1. Prajna. t 2. Upaya.t
Trydmndya.
1. Dkarma.J 2. Buddiia.t 3. Sangka.J
2. Sangka.§ 1. Buddka.§ 3. Dkarma.§
1. Buddka.§ 2. Dkarma.§ 3. Sangka.§
Paneha-Puddhdmndya.
4. Amitabka. 2. Akskobkya. l.Vairockana. 3. Ratnasambkava. 5. Aniogkasiddka,||
Pan cha-Prajn dmndyi.
4. Pandura 2. Lockana. 1. Vajradkatwisvari. 3. Mtiniakf. 5. Tara.
* Root of theistic doctrine. t Root of atkeistic doctrine.
+ Atkeistic. § Tkeistic ; diversely so.
(j Tkese five are tke famous Dkyani Buddkas. A sixtk is often added, or Vajra
Satwa. Tke series of five is tke common exoteric one: tke sixtk seems to belong
rather to the esoteric system.
N
94 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Pancha-Sanghdmndya.
4. Padniapani. 2. Vajrapani. 1. Saniantabhadra. 3. Ratnapani. 5. Viswapani.
Paneha-Sanghdmn dyi.
4. Bhrikuti-tara. 2. Ugratara. 1. Sitatara. 3. Ratnatara. 5. Yi»watara.
Matdntara-Pancha-Biiddhdmndya.
1. Vairocliaua. 2. Akshobhya. 3. Ratnasanibhava. 4. Amitabha. 5. Anioghasiddha.
Matdntara-Pancha-Prajndmndyi.
1. Vajradhatwisvari. 2. Locbana. 3. Mauiaki. 4. Pandura. o. Tara.
Matdntara-Pancha-Sanyhdmndya.
1. Samantabbadra. 2. Vajrapani. 3. Ratnapani. 4. Padmapani. o. Viswapani.
Matdntara-Pan cha- Sanghdmndyi.
1. Sitatara. 2. Ugratara. 3. Ratnatara. 4. Bbrikutitara. 5. Visvatara.
Matdntara-Pancha-Buddhdmndya.
4. Aniitabba. 2. Amogbasiddba. 1. Vairocbana. 3. Ratnasambbava. 5. Aksbobbya.
Matdntara-Pancha-Prajndmndyi.
4 .Tara. 2. Mainaki. 1. Vajradbatwisvari. 3. Pandura. 5. Locbana.
Shad-Amndya-Buddhdh.
2. Aksbobbya. 3. Ratnasambbava. 4. Aniitabba. 5. Amogbasiddba.
1. Vairochana. 6. Vajrasatwa.
Shat-Prajn dmndyi.
2. Locbana. 3. Mamaki. 4. Pandura. 5. Tara.
1. Vajradbatwisvari. 6. Vajrasatwatmika.
Sh at- Sanghdm n dya.
2. Vajrapani. 3. Ratnapani. 4. Padmapani. 5. Viswapani.
1. Samantabbadra. 0. Gliantapani.
Mdnushiya-Saj)ta-Buddh dmn dya. *
2. Sikbi. 3. Viswabbii. 4. Kakutsanda. o. Kanakamuni. G. Kasyapa.
1. Vipasyi. 7. Sakyasinba.
Matdntara-Mdiiushiya-Sapta-Bnddhdmndya.
4. Kakutsanda. 2. Sikbi. 1. Vipasyi. 3. Viswabbii. 5. Kanakamuni.
6. Kasyapa. 7. Sakyasinha.
Prqjnd-Misrita-Dydni-Nara-Buddhdmndya.
2. Aksbobhya. 1. Vairocbana-Vajradbatwisvari. 3. Ratnasambliava.
8. Pandura. 0. Locbana. 4. Aniitabba. 5. Amogbasiddba. 7. Mainaki. 0. Tara.
* All the Deities named above are Dbyani, or celestial. The following are Miimishfya
Dhyani, as specified.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 95
Dhydni-Nava-Buddhdmndydh.
4. Arnitabha. 2. Akshobhya. 1. Vairocliana. 3. Ratnasambhava. 5. Amoghasiddha.
8. Vajradbarma. G. Vajrasatwa. 7. Vajraraja. 9. Vajrakarma.
Dhydni-Nava-Prajndmndyi.
4. Pandora. 2. Lochana. 1. Vajradhatwisvarf. 3. Mamaki. 5. Tara,
8. Dhannavaj rini. 0. Vajraaatwatmika. 7. Ratnavajrini. !). Karmavajrini.
Dhydn i-Nia va-Sangli dmn dydh .
4. Padmapani. 2. Vajrapani. 1. Samantabhadra. 3. Ratnapani. 5. Viswapani.
8- Dharmapani. G. Ghantapani. 7. Manipani. 9. Karmapani.
Misrita- Na va-Sa ngh dmn dydh .
2. Maitreya. 1. Avalokiteswara. 3. Qaganaganja.
G. Manjughosha. 4. Samantabbadra. 5. Vajrapani. 7. Sarva-nivarana-visbkambbi.
8. Ksbitigarbba. 9. Kbagarbba.*
Nava-DharmdmndydJi-Paustakdh (Buddha-Dhanna-sanglui-Marulale
Pujanakrame etan Mi'dam.)
2. Gandavyuha. 1. Prajna-paramita. 3. Dasabbiiiniswara.
C. Saddbarmapundarika. 4. Samadbiraja. 5. Lankavatara. 7. Tatbagataguhyaka.
8. Lalita-vistara. 9. Suvarna-prabba.
Na va-Bodh isat wa-Sa nghdmn dydh .
4. Sitatara. 2. Maitrayaui. 1. Bbrikutitara. 3. Pusbpatiira. 5. Ekajata.
8. Dipatara. G. Vagiswari. 7. Dhupatara. 9. Gandbatara.
Nava-Devi-Prajndmndyi.
2.Vajravidariui. 1. Vasuudbara. 3. Gauapati-bridaya. 8. Maricbi. 4. Usbni'sba-vijaya.
o. Parnasavari. 7. Grabamatrika. 8. Pratyangirab. 9. Dbwajagrakeyuri.
Misrita-Nava-Dharmdmndydh.
4. Pandura. 2. Locbana. 1. Vajradbatwiswari. 3. Mamaki. 5. Tara.
8. Pratyangirab. G. Vajraaatwatmika. 7. Vasuudbara. 9. Gubyeswan'4
Mdnushiya-Nava-Buddhdmndydh.
4. Sikbi. 2. Ratnagarbba. 1. Dipankara. 3. Vipasyi. 5. Viswabbii.
8. Kasyapa. G. Kakutsanda. 7. Kanakamuni. 9. Sakyaamha.
Man ush iya-Na va -Bitddh dm n dydh .
1. Dipankara. 2. Ratnagarbba. § 3. Vipasyi. 4. Sikbi. 5. Viswablui.
G. Kakutsanda. 7. Kanakamuni. 8. Kasyapa. 9. Sakyasinba.
* Avalokiteswara is probably identical with Matsyendra nath, bhe introducer of Natlii.siu
into Buddhism, but not with Padma Pani, the fourth Dhyani Bodhisatwa, though now
usually so identified. Maitreya is the Buddha next to come ; Manjughosha is a
historical person and the apparent introducer of Saktiisni into Buddhism : 4-5 are
Dhyinis, shadows like the rest.
X Guhyeswari is now worshipped by the orthodox as the Sakti of Pasupati Nath.
But the expelled Buddhists claim the goddess as their own and affirm that there is
a subterranean way from their great temple of Sanibhunath to hers.
§ For Ratnagarbha see Fahian, p. 116. We have here nine mortal Biuldlias
96 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Manushiya-Nava-Prajndmndyi.
1. Jwalavatf. 2. Lakskanavati. 3. Yipasyanti. 4. Sikkamalim. 5. Viswadhara.
0. Kakudvatf. 7. KantkanainaLini. 8. Makidkara. 9. Yasodkara.*
Na va-Bh ikshu- Sangh drum a yah .
1. Pradipeswara. 2. Ratnaraja. 3. Makamatk 4. Ratnadkara. 5. Akasaganja.
6. Sakalainangala. 7. Kanakaraja. 8. Dkarraodara. 9. Ananda.
Iti-Sri-Ehdmndyddi-Nardmndya-Devatdh Samdptdh
N. B. — Tke autkority for tkese details is tke Pkarma Sangraka, or catalogue
raisonne of tke terminology of tke Bauddka system of pkilosopky and religiou.
EUROPEAN SPECULATIONS ON BUDDHISM. ||
In tke late M. Ahel-Rernusat's review of my sketch of Buddkism, (Journal
des Savans, Mai, 1831,) witk tke perusal of wkick I kave keen favoured
ky Mr. J. Prinsep, there occurs (p. 2G3) tke following passage : " L'une des
croyances les plus importantes, et celle sur laquelle 1'essai de M. Hodgson fournit
le moins de lumieres, est celle des avenemens ou incarnations (avatdra). Le nom
de Tathdgata (avenu**) qu'on donne a, Sakia n'e'st point explique dans son memoire ;
et quant aux incarnations, le religieux dont les reponses ont fourni la sukstance
de ce memoire, ne semkle pas en reconnoitre d'autres que celles des sept Boud-
dkas. II est pourtant certain qu'on en compte une infinite d'au tres ; et les lamas
du Tiket se considerent eux memes comme autant de divinites incarnees pour le
salut des homines,"
I confess I am somewkat surprised by tkese okseivations, since wkatever
degree of useful mformation relative to Buddkism my essays in tke Calcutta
and London Transactions may furnisk, tkey profess not to give any, (save ex vi
necessitatis) concerning tke ' veritaklo nonsense' of tke system. And in wkat
ligkt, I pray you, is sober sense to regard " une infinite " of pkanioms, chal-
lenging belief in tkeir kistorical existence as tke founders and propagators of a
given code of laws? Tke Lalita Vistara gravely assigns 505, or according to
anotker copy, 550, avatdras to S.'.kya alone. Was I seriously to incline to tke
task of collecting and recording all tkat is attributed to tkese palpakle nonen-
tities ? or, was it merely desired tkat I skould explain tke rationale of tke doctrine
instead of seven, which latter is tke usual series, vide tke Amarakoska. Tke Soutk-
erns usually cite only four. All depends on the Kalpas, each lias its own Buddhas, and
to the last or present Kalpa belong the four of southern notoriety.
* Yasodhara was tke wife of Sakya, and liakula their son. Rakula therefore ought
to have been the ninth Sangha : but he Avas dull and little known whilst Ananda
was most famous and succeeded Sakya as Heresiareh after Kasyapa's speedy demise.
|| Printed from the Journal of tke Asiatic Society of Bengal. "Nos. 3'2, 33, and 34,
A.D. 1834.
**A radical mistake; sec the sequel.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 97
of incarnation? If the latter only be the desideratum, here is a summary
recapitulation of what I thought I had already sufficiently explained.
The scale of Bauddha perfectibility has countless degrees, several of which
towards the summit express attributes really divine, however short of the tran-
scendental glory of a tathdgccta in nirvritti. Nevertheless, these attributes appertain
to persons subject to mortal births and deaths, of which the series is as little limited
as is that scale of cumulative merits to which it expressly refers. But, if the scale
of increasing merits, with proportionate powers in the occupiers of each grade, have
almost infinite extent, and yet mortal birth cleave to every grade but the very
highest, what wonder that men-gods should be common ? or, that the appearance
again in the flesh, of beings, who are far more largely gifted than the greatest
of the devatds, should be called an avatar? Such avatdras, in all their successive
mortal advents till they can reach the estate of a tathagata, are the arhantas, and
the bodhisativas, the pratyeha and ths srdvaka-Buddhas. They are gods and far
more than gods ; yet they were originally, and still quoad birth and death are, mere
men. When I stated that the divine Lamas of Tibet are, in fact, arhantas:
but that a very gross superstition had wrested the just notion of the character of
the latter to its own use, I thought I had enabled every reader to form a clear
idea of that marvel of human folly, the immortal mortals, or present palpable
divinities of Tibet ! How few and easy the steps front a theory of human perfecti-
bility, with an apparently interminable metempsychosis, to a practical tenet such
as the Tibetans hold!
But Remusat speaks of the incarnations of the tathdgatas: this is a mistake,
and a radical one. A Tathagata may be such whilst yet lingering in the flesh of
that mortal birth in which he reached this supreme grade ; — and here, by the
way, is another very obvious foundation for the Tibetan extravagance — but when
once, by that body's decay, the Tathagata has passed into nirvritti, he can never
be again incarnated. The only true and proper Buddha is the Maha Yanika or
Tathagata Buddha. Such are all the ' sapta Buddha ; ' of whom it is abundantly
certain that not one ever was, or, by the principles of the creed, could be, incarnated.
Sakya's incarnations all belong to the period preceding his becoming a Tathagata.
Absolute quietism is the enduring state of a Tathagata : and, had it been
otherwise, Buddhism would have been justly chargeable with a more stupendous
absurdity than that from which Remusat in vain essays to clear it. ' Plusieurs
absolus — plusieurs infinis ' there are ; and they are bad enough, though the
absolute infinity be restricted to the fruition of the subject. But the case would
have been tenfold worse had activity been ascribed to these beings ; for we should
then have had an unlimited number of infinite ruling providences ! The infinite
of the Buddhists is never incarnated ; nor the finite of the Brahmans. Avataras are
an essential and consistent part of Brahmanism — an unessential and inconsis-
tent part of Buddhism : and there is always this material difference between
the avatara of the former and of the latter, that whereas in the one it is an incarna-
* Not a syllable is told of these mortal Bodhisatwas with the exception of the last,
Sikya's most famous disciple.
o
98 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
tion of the supreme and infinite spirit, for recognised purposes of creation or
rule ; in the other, it is an incarnation of a mere human spirit — (however approxi-
mated hy its own efforts to the infinite) and for what purpose it is impossible to
say, consistently with the principles of the creed. I exclude here all considerations
of the dhydni, or celestial Buddhas, because Pieinusat's reference is expressly to
the seven m&mishi or human ones.
The word Tathagata is reduced to its elements, and explained in three ways —
1st. thus (j one, which means gone in such a manner that he (the Tathagata) will
never appear again ; births having been closed by the attainment of perfection.
2nd. thus got or obtained, which is to say, (cessation of births) obtained, degree by
degree, in the manner described in the Bauddha scriptures, and by observance of
the precepts therein laid down , in a word by tapas and Dhyana,«or severe ascetic
purity and transcendental meditation. 3rd. thus gone, that is, gone as it (birth)
came — the pyrrhonic interpretation of those who hold that doubt is the end,
as well as beginning, of wisdom ; and that that which causes births, causes
likewise the ultimate cessation of them, whether that ' final close ' be conscious
immortality or virtual nothingness. Thus the epithet Tathagata, so far from mean-
ing 'come' (avenu), and implying incarnation, as Remusat supposed, signifies
the direct contrary, or ' gone for ever,' and expressly announces the impossibility of
incarnation; and this according to all the schools, sceptical, theistic, and
atheistic.
I shall not, I suppose, be again asked for the incarnations of the Tathagatas.*
Nor, I fancy, will any philosophical peruser of the above etymology of this im-
portant word have much hesitation in refusing, on this ground alone, any portion
of his serious attention to the ' infinite ' of Bnddhist avatdras, such as they
really are. To my mind they belong to the very same category of mythological
shadows with the infinity of distinct Buddhas, which latter, when I first dis-
closed it as a fact in relation to the belief of these sectaries, led me to warn my
readers " to keep a steady eye upon the authoritative assertion of the old scrip-
tures, that Sakya is the seventh and last of the Buddhas,"t though I believe
that Sakya's six predecessors are voces etprceterea nihil.
The purpose of my two essays on Buddhism was to seize and render intelligible
the leading and least absurd of the opinions and practices of these religionists, in
order to facilitate to my countrymen the study of an entirely new and difficult
subject in those original Sanskrit authorities81* which I had discovered and placed
*To the question, what is the tathagata, the most holy of Buddhist scriptures
returneth for answer, "It dors not come again, it does not come again."
t Asiatic Researches, vol. xvi. p. 445.
•"Nearly seventy volumes in Sanskrit, and some in the language of Tibet, were
sent by me to Calcutta between the years 1824 and 1630. The former had never been
before heard of, nor the latter pos < ,1, by Europeans.
[See the notices of the contents of the Tibetan works and their Sanskrit originals by
M. ('soma de Koros, and by Professor H. H. Wilson in the third volume of Gleanings,
and first volume of Journal As. Soc. — Ed.]
See at pp. 137-139 of vol. i. for list of Sanskrit works. Eventually I procured
from Lhasa the complete Kahgyur and Stangyur in 327 large volumes. The catalogue
thereof had previously been ' obtained, and its general character reported on before
('soma de Koros made his appearance.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 99
within their roach, but no living interpreters of which, I knew, were accessible
to them, in Bengal or in Europe.
I had no purpose, nor have I, to meddle with the interminahle sheer absurdities
of the Bauddha philosophy or religion ; and, had I not been called upon for proofs
of the numerous novel statements my two essays contained, I should not pro-
bably have recurred at all to the topic. But sensible of the prevalent literary
scepticism of our day and race, I have answered that call, and furnished to tho
Royal Asiatic Society, a copious selection from those original works which I
had some years previously discovered the existence of in Nepaul. 1 trust that
a further consideration of my two published essays, as illustrated by the new
paper just mentioned, will suffice to remove from the minds of my continental
readers most of those doubts of Reinusat, the solution of which does not neces-
sarily imply conversancy on my part with details as absurd as interminable I can-
not, however, be answerable for the mistakes of my commentators. One signal
one, on the part of the lamented author in question, I have just discussed : others
of importance I have adverted to elsewhere : and I shall here confine myself to
the mention of one more belonging to the review from which I have quoted.
In speaking of the classification of the people, Reinusat considers the vajra dchdrya
to be laics ; which is so far from being true that they and they alone constitute
the clergy. The bhikshuka can indeed perform some of the lower offices of reli-
gion: but the vajra dchdrya solely are competent to the discharge of the
higher ; and, in point of fact, are the oidy real clergy. That the distinction of
clerus et laicus in this creed is altogether an anomaly, resulting from the decay of
the primitive asceticism of the sect, I have endeavoured to shew elsewhere, and
cannot afford room for repetition in this place.
The critics generally have been, I observe, prompt to adopt my caution relative
to local superstitions, as opposed to the original creed of the Bauddhas. But
they have carried their caution too far, and by so doing, have cast a shade of doubt
and suspicion over things sufficiently entitled to exemption therefrom. Allow me,
then, to reverse the medal, and to shew the grounds upon which a great degree
of certainty and uniformity may always be presumed to exist in reference to
this creed, be it professed where it may.
Buddhism arose in an age and country celebrated for literature ; and the con-
sequence was, that its doctrine and discipline were fixed by means of one of the
most perfect languages in the world (Sanskrit), during, or immediately after, the
age of its founder.
Nor, though furious bigots dispersed the sect, and attempted to destroy its
records, did they succeed in the latter attempt. The refugees found, not only
safely, but protection, and honour, in the immediately adjacent countries, whither
they safely conveyed most of their books, and where those books still exist,
either in the original Sanskrit, or in most carefully made translations from it.
The Sata Sdhasrika-Prqjnd-Pdramitd, and the nine Dharmas, discovered by me in
Nepaul, are as indisputably original evidence of Buddhism as the Vedas and
Puranas are of Brahmanism. The Kahgyur of Tibet has been proved to have been
IOO BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
rendered into Tibetan from Sanskrit, with pains and fidelity : and if the numerous
hooks of the Burmese and Ceylonese he not originals, it is certain that they
were translated in the earlier ages of Buddhism, and that they were rendered
into a language (high Prakrit) which, from its close affinity to that of the origi-
nal hooks of the sect, (Sanskrit,) must have afforded the translators every facility
in the prosecution of their labours.
But if the Buddhists, whether of the continent or islands of India, or of the
countries beyond the former, still possess and consult the primitive scriptures of
their faith, either in the original language, or in careful translations, made in the
best age of their church, how can Buddhism in the several countries where it
is practically used as the rule of life and of faith, fail to exhibit a common character
as to essentials at least. And wherefore, I would fain know, should European
scholars, from their study, incessantly prate about mere local rites and opinions,
constituting the substance of whatever is told to the intelligent traveller by the
present professors of this faith in diverse regions — nay, constituting the substance
of whatever he can glean from their books ? In regard to Nepaul, it is just as
absurd to insinuate, that the Prajna Paramita, and the nine Dharmas were
composed in that country, and have exclusive reference to it, as to say that the
Hebrew Old, or Greek New Testament was composed in and for Italy, France,
or Spain exclusively. Nor is it much less absurd to affirm, that the Buddhism
of one country is essentially unlike the Buddhism of any and every other coun-
try professing it, than it would be to allege the same of Christianity.
Questionless, in the general case, documentary is superior to verbal evidence.
But the superiority is not without limit : and where, on the one hand, the books
referred to by our closet students are numerous and difficult, and respect an
entirely new subject, whilst, on the other hand, our personal inquirers have
time and opportunity at command, and can question and cross-question in-
telligent witnesses, and cause reference to be made to the written authorities, the
result of an appeal to the living oracles will oft times prove as valuable as
that of one to the dead without any other guide.
Let the closet student, then, give reasonable faith to the traveller, even upon this
subject; and, whatever may be the general intellectual inferiority of the orientals
of our day, or the plastic facility of change peculiar to every form of poly-
theism, let him not suppose that the living followers of Buddha cannot be profitably
interrogated touching the creed they live and die in ; and, above all, let him
not presume that a religion fixed, at its earliest period, by means of a noble
written lan°-uage, has no identity of character in the several countries where
it is now professed, notwithstanding that that identity has been guarded, up
to this day, by the possession and use of original scriptures, or of faithful trans-
lations from them, which were made in the best age of this church.
For myself, and with reference to the latter point, I can safely say that my
comparisons of the existing Buddhism of Nepaul, with that of Tibet, the Indo-
( 'binese nations and Ceylon, as reported by our local enquirers, as well as with
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. IOI
that of ancient India itself, as evidenced by the sculptures of Gaya,* and of the
cave temples of Aurungabad, have satisfied me that this faith possesses as much
identity of character in all times and places as any other we know, of equal anti-
quity and dift'usion.t
P.S. — Whether Rernusat's avenu be understood loosely, as meaning ' come,' or
.strictly, as signifying ' come to pass,' it will be equally inadmissible as the inter-
pretation of the word Tathdgata; because Tathdgata is designed expressly to
announce that all reiteration and contingency whatever is barred with respect to
the beings so designated. They cannot come ; nor can anything come to pass affect-
ing them.§
And if it be objected, that the mere use of the word avenu, in the past tense,
does not necessarily imply such reiteration and conditional futurity, I answer that
R^musat clearly meant it to convey these ideas, or what was the sense of calling
on me for the successive incarnations of these avenus ? It has been suggested to
me that absolu, used substantively, implies ' activity.' Perhaps so, in Parisian
propriety of speech. But I use it merely as opposed to relative with reference to
mere mortals ; and I trust that the affirmation — there are many absolutes, many
infinites, who are nevertheless inactive — may at least be distinctly understood. I
have nothing to do with the reasonableness of the tenet so affirmed or stated, being
only a reporter.
* See the explanation of these sculptures by a Nepaulese Buddhist in the Quarterly
Oriental Magazine No. xiv. pp. 218, 222.
+ As a proof of the close agreement of the Bauddha, systems of different countries,
we may take this opportunity of quoting a private letter from Colonel Burney,
relative to the 'Burmese Thilosopher Prince,' Mekkhara Men, the King of Ava's uncle.
"The prince has been reading with the greatest interest M, Csoma de Korbs's
different translations from the Tibet scriptures in your journal, and he is most anxious
to obtain the loan of some of the many Tibetan works, which the Society is said to
possess. He considers many of the Tibetan letters to be the same as the Burmese,
particularly the b , m, n, and y. He is particularly anxious to know if the monastery
called Zedawuna still exists in Tibet, where, according to Burmese books, Godama dwelt
a long time, and with his attendant Ananda planted a bough which he had brought
from the great pipal tree, at Buddha-Gaya. The prince is also anxious to know
whether the people of Tibet wear their hair as the Burmese do ? how they dress, and
how their priests dress and live ? The city in which the monastery of Zedawuna stood,
is called in the Burmese scriptures Tha/wotthi, and the prince ingeniously fancies, that
Tibet must be derived from that word. The Burmese have no s, and always use
their soft th, when they meet with that letter in Pali or foreign words — hence proba-
bly Thawotthi is from some Sanskrit name Sawot. I enclose, a list of countries and
cities mentioned in the Burmese writings, as the scene of Godama's adventures, to
which if the exact site and present designation of each can be assigned from the
Sanskrit or the Tibet authorities, it will confer an important favour on Burmese-
literati." It is highly interesting to see the spirit of inquiry stining in the high
places of this hitherto"benighted nation. The information desired is already furnished,
and as might be expected, the Burmese names prove to be copied through the Prakrit
or Pali, directly from the Sanskrit originals, in this respect differing from the Tibetan,
which are translations of the same name.
§ Avenu signifies quod evenit, eonUgUt that which hath happened. — ( Dictionnairt
de Trevoux.) Tathdgata; tathd thus (what really is), goto, (known, obtained.) —
(Wilson's Sans. Diet.) — Ed.
P
102 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
FURTHER REMARKS ON M. REMTJSAT's REVIEW OF BUDDHISM.t
Adverting again to Reniusat's Review in the Journal des Savons for May, 1831 ,
I find myself charged with another omission more important than that of all
mention of the Avatars. It is no less than the omission of all mention of any other
Buddhas than the seven celebrated Manushis. The passage in which this singular
allegation is advanced is the following : " Les noms de ces sept personnages (the
'Sapta Buddha) sont connus des Chinois, et ils en indiquent une infinite d'autres
dont le Bouddhiste Xipalien ne parte pas."
My Essay in the London Transactions was the complement and continuation of
that in the Calcutta Researches. Remusat was equally well acquainted with both ;
and, uidess he would have had me indulge in most useless repetition, he must have
felt convinced that the points enlarged on in the former essay woidd he treated
cursorily or omitted, in the latter. Why, then, did he not refer to the Calcutta
paper for what was wanting in the London one ? Unless I greatly deceive myself,
I was the first person who shewed clearly, and proved by extracts from original
Sanskrit works, that Buddhism recognises " une infinite " of Buddhas, — Dhyani and
Manushi, Pratyeka, Sravaka, and Malm Yanika.* The sixteenth volume of the
Calcutta Transactions was published in 1828. In that volume appeared my first
essay, the substance of which had, however, been in the hands of the Secretary
nearly three years before it was published. § In that volume I gave an original list
of nearly 150 Buddhas (p. 446, 449) : I observed that the Buddhas named in
the Buddhist scriptures were " as numerous as the grains of sand on the banks of
the Ganges;" but that, as most of them were nonentities in regard to chronology
and history, the list actually furnished would probably more than suffice to gratify
rational curiosity ; on which account I suppressed another long list, drawn from the
Samadhi Raja, ichich was then in my hands, (p. 444.) By fixing attention on that
cardinal dogma of Sugatism, viz., that man can enlarge his faculties to infinity, I
enabled every inquirer to conclude with certainty that the Buddhas had been
multiplied ad libitum. By tracing the connexion between the Arhantas and the
Bodhisatwas ; between the latter again, and the Buddhas of the first, second,
and third, degree of eminence and power ; I pointed out the distinct steps by which
the finite becomes confounded with the infinite, — man with Buddha ; and I ob-
served in conclusion that the epithet Tathagata, a synonym of Buddha, expressly
pourtrays this transition. (London Transactions, vol. ii. part i.) Facts and dates are
awkward opponents except to those, who, with Reniusat's compatriot, dismiss them
with a ' tant pis pour les faits !' For years before I published my first essay, I had
been in possession of hundreds of drawings, made from the Buddhist pictures and
sculptures with which this land is saturated, and which drawings have not vet
been published, owing to the delay incident to procuring authentic explanations off
t Printed from the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, No. 33, A.D. 1834.
* The triydna, or three paths to bliss (of three different degrees) suited to the
live capacities of the several followers of this creed, want elucidation. The
Mahdydna is elsewhere spoken ol as the humblest path ; some call it the highest.
According to usage in that matter provided.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. IO3
them from original sources. All the gentlemen of the residency can testify to
the truth of this assertion ; and can tell those who would be wiser for the know-
ledge, that it is often requisite to walk heedfully over the classic fields of the valley
of Nepaul, lest perchance you break your shins against an image of a Buddha!
These images are to be met with everywhere, and of all sizes and shapes, very
many of them endowed with a multiplicity of members sufficient to satisfy the
teeming fancy of any Brahman of MadhyaDesa! Start not, gentle reader, for
it is literally thus, and riot otherwise. Buddhas with three heads instead of one
— six or ten arms in place of two ! The necessity of reconciling these things
with the so called first principles of Buddhism,* may reasonably account for delay
in the production of my pictorial stores. Meantime, I cannot but smile to find
myself condoled with for my poverty when I am really, and have been for ten
years, accable des richesses ! One interesting result only have I reached by means
of these interminable trifles ; and that is, strong presumptive proof that the cave
temples of Western India are the work of Buddhists solely, and that the most ap-
parently Brahmanical sculptures of those venerable fanes are, in fact, Buddhist.
A hint to this effect Pgave so long ago as 1827, in the Quarterly Oriental Maga-
zine, (No. XVI. p. 219 ;) and can only afford room to remark in this place, that
subsequent research had tended strongly to confirm the impressions then derived
from my very learned old friend Amrita Nanda. The existence of an infinite
number of Buddhas ; the existence of the whole Dhyani class of Buddhas; the
personality of the Triad ; its philosophical and religious meanings ; the classification
and nomenclature of the (ascetical or true) followers of this creed ; the dis-
tinction of its various schools of philosophy ; the peculiar tenets of each school,
faintly but rationally indicated ; the connexion of its philosophy with its religion ;
and, as the result of all these, the means of speaking consistently upon the general
subject,t are matters for the knowledge of which, if Re'rnusat be not wholly
indebted to me and my authorities, it is absolutely certain that I am wholly
M»mdebted to him and his ; for till he sent me his essay on the Triad, I had
never seen one line of his, or any other continental writer's, lucubrations on
Buddhism.
I have ventured to advance above that in the opinion of a learned friend, the
Chinese and Mongolian works on Buddhism, from which the continental savans
have drawn the information they possess on that topic, are not per se adequate
to supply any very intelligible views of the general subject.
As this is an assertion which it may seem desirable to support by proof, allow
me to propose the following. Remusat observes, that a work of the first order
•jives the subjoined sketch of the Buddhist cosmogony. "Tous les etres etanl
contenus dans la tres pure substance de la pensee, une idee surgit inopinement e1
* See Erskine's Essays in the Bombay Transactions.
+A learned friend assures me that "a world of Chinese and Mongolian enigmas
have been solved by means of your general and consistent outline of the si/stcm, but
for which outline the said enigmas would have continued to defy all the Continental
CEdipuses." (Sir G. Haughton in epis. 16 January, 1832.)
104 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
produisit la fausse luniiere ; Quaud la fausse luniiere fut n6e, le vide et l'obscurittS
s'imposerent reciproquenient des liniites. Les formes qui en resulterent etant in-
deterniinees, il y eut agitation et niouvenient. De la naquit le tourbillon de vent
qui contient les niondes. L'intelligence luniineuse e"toit le principe de solidite,
d'ou naquit la roue d'or qui soutient et protege la terre. Le contact niutuel du
vent et du metal produit le feu et la lumiere, qui sont les principes des change-
mens et des modifications. La lumiere precieuse engendre la liquidite qui bou-
illonne a la surface de la lumiere ignee, d'ou provient le tourbillon d'eau qui em-
brasse les niondes de toute part."
Now I ask, is tb ere a man living, not familiar with tbe subject, who can extract
a particle of sense from the above passage ? And are not sucb passages, produced
in illustration of a novel theme tbe veriest obscurations thereof ? But let us
see wbat can be made of the enigma. This apercu cosmoyoniqae of the Lang-
yen-king, is, in fact, a description of the procession of tbe five elements, one from
another, and ultimately from Prajnd, the universal material principle, very nearly
akin to the Pradhdna of the Kapila Sankhya. This universal principle has two
modes or states of being, one of which is the proper, absolute, and enduring mode ;
the other, the contingent, relative, and transitory. These modes are termed re-
spectively Nirvritti and Pravritti.
The former is abstraction from all effects, or quiescence : the latter is concretion
with all effects, or activity.* When the intrinsic energy of matter is exerted,
effects exist ; when that energy relapses into repose, they exist not. All worlds
and beings composing the versatile universe are cumulative effects ; and though
the so-called elements composing them be evolved and revolved in a given manner,
one from and to another, and though each be distinguished by a given property or
properties, the distinctions, as well as the orderly evolution and revolution, are mere
results of the gradually increasing and decreasing energy of nature in a state of
activity 4 Ujpdya, or ' the expedient,' is the name of this energy ; — increase of it is
increase of phenomenal properties ; — decrease of it is decrease of phenomenal
properties. All phenomena are homogeneous and alike unreal; gravity and ex-
tended figure, no less so than colour and sound. Extension in the abstract is not a
phenomenon, nor does it belong properly to the versatile world. The productive
energy begins at a minimum of intensity, and increasing to a maximum, thence
decreases again to a minimum. Hence dkdsa, the first product, has but one quality
or property ; air, the second, has two ; fire, the third, has three ; water, the fourth,
has four; and earth, the fifth, has live.*
*See Bailly's History of Asia, pp. 114, 118, 124, 1S7, of vol. i ; also pp. 130, 187.
Wondrous concord of ideas ! Also Goguet, 1. 170.
J Causes and effects, quoad the versatile world, cannot be truly alleged to exist.
There is merely customary conjunction, and certain limited effects of proximity in the
precedent and subsequent, by virtue of the one true and universal cause, viz, Prujad.
With the primitive Swahhavikas cause is not unitised : for the rest, their tenets are
very much the same with those above explained in the text ; only their conclusions
incline rather to scepticism than dogmatism. It may also perhaps be donbted whether
with the latter school, phenomena are unreal as well as homogeneous. In the text, I
would be understood to state the tenets of the Prajnikas only.
*There is always cumulation of properties, but the number assigned to each element
is variously .stated.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 105
These elemeuts are evolved uniformly one from another in the above manner,
and are revolved uniformly in the inverse order.
Sunyatd, or the total abstraction of phaenomenal properties, is the result of the
total suspension of nature's activity. It is the ubi, and the modus, of the uni-
versal material principle in its proper and enduring state of nirvritti, or of rest.
It is not nothingness, except with the sceptical few. The opposite of Sunyatd
is Avidya, which is the mundane affection of the universal principle, or the
universal principle in a state of activity, that is, of pravritti. Avidya is also the
result of this disposition to activity ; in other words it represents phsenomenal
entities, or the sum of pheenomena, which are regarded as wholly unreal, and
hence their existence is ascribed to ignorance or Avidya. Now, if we revert to the
extract from the Lang-yen-king, and remember that la pensee,* l'intelligence
lumineuse,* and la lumiere precieuse,* refer alike to Prajna, the material prin-
ciple of all things, (which is personified as a goddess by the religionists,) we
shall find nothing left to impede a distinct notion of the author's meaning,
-beyond some metaphorical flourishes analogous to that variety of descriptive
epithets by which he has characterised the one universal principle. Tow-billon
de vent, and tourbillon d'eau are the elements of air and of water, respectively ;
and le principe de solidite is the element of earth.
" Tous les etres etant contenus dans la pure substance de Prajna une idee surgit
inopinement et produisit la fausse lumiere:" — that is, the universal material prin-
ciple, or goddess Prajna, whilst existing in its, or her, true and proper state of
abstraction and repose, was snddenly disposed to activity, or impressed with delu-
sive mundane affection (Avidya.) " Quand la fausse lumiere fut nee, le vide
et l'obseurite s'imposerent reciproquement des limites." The result of this errant
disposition to activity, or this mundane affection, was that the universal void
was limited by the coming into being of the first element, or dkdsa, which, as
the primary modification of sunyatd (space), has scarcely any sensible properties.
Such is the meaning of the passage " les formes qui en resulterent etant indeter-
minees," immediately succeeding the last quotation. Its sequel again, " il y eut
agitation et mouvement," merely refers to mobility being the characteristic pro-
perty of that element (air) which is about to be produced. " De la naquit le
tourbillon de vent, qui contient les moudes." Thence (i.e., from dkdsa) proceeded
the element of the circumambient air. " L'intelligence lumineuse etoit le principe
de solidite, d'ou naquit la roue d'or qui soutient et protege la terre." Prajna in
the form of light (her pravrittika manifestation) was the principle of solidity,
whence proceeded the wheel of gold which sustains and protects the earth.
Solidity, the diagnostic quality of the element of earth, stands for that element;'
and the wheel of gold is mount Mora, the distinctive attribute of which is pro-
tecting and sustaining power : this passage, therefore, simply announces the evolu-
* Prajna is literally the supreme wisdom, videlicet, of nature. Light and flame are
types of this universal principle, in a state of activity. Nothing hut extreme contusion
can result from translating these terms au pied de la letlre, and without reference to
their technical signification. That alone supremely governs both the literal and meta-
phorical sense of words.
pi
I06 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
tion of the element of earth, with its mythological appendage, mount Meru.
But, according to all the authorities within my knowledge, earth is the last evolved
of the material elements. Nor did I ever meet with an instance, such as here
occurs, of the direct intervention of the first cause (Prajnd) in the midst of this
evolution of the elements. " Le contact mutuel du vent et du metal produit le feu
et lalumiere, qui sont les principes des changemens." The mutual contact of the
elements of air and of earth produce fire and light, which are the principles of
change. This is intelligible, allowance beii g made for palpable mistakes. I under-
stand by it, merely the evolution out of the element of air of that of fire, of
which light is held to be a modification. To the igneous element is ascribed the
special property of heat, which is assumed by our author as the principle of all
changes and transformations. Metal for earth is an obvious misapprehension of
Remusat's. Nor less so is the false allocation of this element (earth) in the
general evolution of the five, and its introduction here.
" La lumiere precieuse engendre la liquidite qui bouillonne a la surface de la
lumiere ignee, d'on provient le tourbillon d'eau qui embrasse les mondes."
Prajnd (in the form of light) produces the liquidity which boils on the
surface of igneous light, whence proceeds the element of water embracing the
world.
This figurative nonsense, when reduced to plain prose, merely announces the
evolution of the element of water from that of fire. Our terrestrial globe rests
upon the waters like a boat, according to the Buddhists ; and hence the allusion
(embracing the world) of the text. What is deserving of notice is the direct
interference, a second time, (and in respect to earth, a third time,) of the causa
eausans with the procession of the elements, one from another. All my authorities
are silent in regard to any such repeated and direct agency; which amounts in fact,
to creation properly so called — a tenet directly opposed to the fundameutal doc-
trine of all the Swabhavikas. Certain Buddhists hold the opinion, that all
material subtances in the versatile world have no existence independent of human
perception. But that the Chinese author quoted by Mr. Reruusat was one of
these idealists, is by no means certaia. His more immediate object, in the passage
quoted, evidently was, to exhibit the procession of the five material elements,
one from another. To that I at present confine myself, merely observing of
the other notion, that what has been stated of the homogeneousuess and unreality
of all phsenomena, is not tantamount to an admission of it. The doctrine of
. ( vidyd, the mundane affection of the universal principle, is not necessarily the same
with the doctrine which makes the percipient principle in man the measure of all
things* Both may seem, in effect, to converge towards what we very vaguely call
idealism; but there are many separate paths of inquiry by which that conclusion
may be reached.
Nepaul, August, 1834.
1 Manas, the sixtli element, is the percipient principle in man. The Chinese author
mentions it not, unless the passage beginning " la m§me force, " and immediately
following that 1 have quoted, was designed to announce its evolution. That passage
as it stands, however, does not assert more than the homogeneousuess of this sixth
element with the other tive.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. IOJ
I resume my notice of Remusat's speculations on Buddhism in the Journal d< a
Savans.
Pie observes, " On ne seroit pas surpris de voir que, dans ce systeme, la forma-
tion* et la destruction des mondes soient presenters conime les resultats d'une revolu-
tion perpetuelle et spontanee, sans fin et sans interruption ;" and afterwards remarks,
" II y a dans le fond nieme des idees Bouddhiques une objection contre l'e'ternite'
du monde que les theologiens de cette religion ne seinhlent pas avoir prevue. Si
tous les etres rentroient dans le repos reel et definitif ;i l'instant que les phemo-
menes cesseroient et disparoitroient dans le sein de l'existence aljsolu, on concuit un
terme ou tous les etres seroient devenus Buddha, et oil le monde auroit cesse1
d'exister."
This Buddha, it is said, is " l'intelligence iniinie, la cause souveraine, dont la
nature est un effet."
Now, if there be such a supreme immaterial cause of all things, what is the
meaning of alleging that worlds and beings are spontaneously evolved and re-
volved ? and, if these spontaneous operations of nature be expressly allowed to be
incessant and endless, what becomes of the apprehension that they should ever fail
or cease ?
As to the real definitive repose, and the absolute existence, spoken of, they are
as certainly and customarily predicated of Diva natura by the Swabhavikas, as of
God or Adi-Buddha, by the Aiswarikas; to which two sects respectively the two
opposite opinions confounded by Remusat exclusively belong.
Again, " Tout est vide, tout est delusion, pour l'intelligence supreme (Adi-
Buddha, as before defined). L'Avidya seul donue aux clioses du monde sensible
une sorte de realite passagere et purement phenomenal." Avidya, therefore, must
according to this statement, be entirely dependant on the volition of the one supreme
immaterial cause: yet immediately after, it is observed, " on voit, a travers des
brouillards d'un langage enigmatique, ressortir l'idee d'une double cause de tout ce
qui existe, savoir rintelligence supreme (Adi-Buddha) et 1 Avidya ou matiere,"
But the fact is, that Avidya is not a material or plastic cause. It is not a sub-
stance, but a mode — not a being, but an affection of a being — not a cause, but an
ef/'ret. Avidya, I repeat, is nothing primarily causal or substantial: it is a plnu-
aomenon, or rather the sum of phenomena : and it is "made of such stuff as dreams
are." In other words, all phamoniena are, according to this theory, absolutely
homogeneous, and utterly unreal. The Avidyalists, therefore, are so far from
belonging to that set of philosophers who have inferred two distinct substances and
causes from the two distinct classes of phsenomena existing in the world, thai
they entirely deny the justice of the premises on which that inference is rested.
Remusat next observes, " Les effets materiels sont subordonnes aux effets psycho-
logiques"- and in the very next page we hear that "on appelle lois les rapports
qui lient les effets aux causes, tant dans l'ordre physique que dans l'ordre moral,
* The question of formation is a very different one from that of continuance. Yet
ltciiius.it would seem to have confounded the two. See the passage beginning "Mais
ee qui merite d'etre remarque."
108 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
ou, pour parler plus exactenient, dans l'ordre unique, qui constitue l'univers.''
Now, if there be really but one class of phenomena in the world, it must be
either the material, or the immaterial, class : consequently, with those who hold
this doctrine, the question of the dependence or independence of mental upon
physical phenomena, must, in one essential sense, be a mere facon de parler. And
I shall venture to assert, that with most of the Buddhists — whose cardinal tenet is,
that all phenomena are homogeneous, whatever they may think upon the further
question of their reality or unreality — it is actually such.
It is, indeed, therefore necessary " joindre la notion d'esprit " before these puzzles
can be allowed to be altogether so difficult as they seem, at least to be such as they
seem ; and if mind or soul " have no name in the Chinese language," the reason
of that at least is obvious ; its existence is denied. Mind is only a peculiar
modification of matter ; et l'ordre unique de l'univers e'est l'ordre physique !
Not fifty years since a man of genius in Europe declared that " the universal sys-
tem does not consist of two principles so essentially different from one another
as matter and spirit ; but that the whole must be of some uniform composition ;
so that the material or immaterial part of the system is superfluous."*
This notion, unless I am mistaken, is to be found at the bottom of most Indian
systems of philosophy, Brahmanical and Buddhist, connected with a rejection in
some shape or other of phenomenal reality in order to get rid of the difficulty of
different properties existing in the cause (whether mind or matter) and in the effect^.
The assertion that "material effects are subordinate to psychological" is no
otherwise a difficulty than as two absolutely distinct classes of phenomena, are
assumed to have a real existence ; and I believe that there is scarcely one school of
Bauddha philosophers which has not denied the one or the other assumption ; and
that the prevalent opinions include a denial of both. All known phenomena may
be ascribed to mind or to matter without a palpable contradiction ; nor, with the
single exception of extent, J is there a physical phenomenon which does not seem
to countenance the rejection of phenomenal reality. Hence the doctrines of
Avidya and of Maya ; and I would ask those whose musings are in an impartial
strain, whether the Bauddha device be not as good a one as the Brahmanical,
to stave off a difficulty which the unaided wit of man is utterly unable to cope
with?§
* A writer in the Edinburgh Review for January 1852, p. 192, says that to make im-
mortality dependant on immateriality is most illogical.
f Remusat desired to know how the Buddhists reconcile multiplicity with unity,
relative with absolute, imperfect with perfect, variable with eternal, nature with
intelligence ?
I answer ; by the hypothesis of two modes — one of quiescence, the other of activity ;
one of development, the other of non-development. But when he joins "l'esprit et
la matiere*" to the rest of his antitheses, 1'must beg leave to say the question is entirely
altered, and must recommend the captious to a consideration of the extract given in the
text from a European philosopher of eminence. Not that I have any sympathy with
that extravagance, but that 1 wish merely to state the case fairly for the Buddhists.
I Time and Space : which however cannot, and are not classed among phenomena
by Indian or European philosophers. Limited time and space are considered quasi
phenomena by'all.
§ Sec Ballantyne's Vedanta, p. 80 : the very phrase " ignorance " or Ajn&na is essen-
tially the same and more precise than Mdyd,
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. IO9
Questionless, it is not easy, if it be possible, to avoid the use of worcta equiva-
lent to material and psychological ; but the tenet obviously involved in the formal
subordination of one to the oLher class of phoenomena, when placed beside the
tenet, that all phoenomena are homogeneous, at once renders the former a mere
trick of words, or creates an irreconcileable contradiction between the two doctrines,
and in fact Remusat has here again commingled tenets held exclusively by quite
distinct schools of Buddhist philosophy.
If I have been held accountable for some of the notions above remarked on, I
suspect that these my supposed opinions have been opposed by something more
substantial than "des arguti.es mystiques." Remusat expressly says, "M. Hodgson
a eu parfaitement raison d' admettre, comme base du systeme entier, l'existence
d'un seul etre souverainement parfait et intelligent, de celui qttil nomine Adi-
Buddha." Now, I must crave leave to say that I never admitted anything of
the sort ; but, on the contrary, carefully pointed out that the " systeme entier '
consists of four systems, all sufficiently difierent, and two of them, radically
so — viz., the Swabhavika and the Aiswarika. It is most apparent to me that
Remusat has made a melange out of the doctrines of all the four schools ; and
there are very sufficient indications in the course of this essay that his principal
authority was of the Swabhavika sect.
In speaking of the twof bodies of Buddha he remarks, that "le veritable
corps est identifie avec la science et la loi. La substance meme est la science
(Prajna)." He had previously made the same observation, "La loi meme est son
principe et sa nature." Now those who are aware that Prajna (most idly translated
law, science, and so forth,) is the name of the great material cause * can have no
difficulty in reaching the conviction that the Buddhist authority from whence
this assertion was borrowed, — ' of Prajna being the very essence, nature, and
principle of Buddha,' — belonged to the Swabhavika school, and would have laughed
at the co-ordinate doctrine of his translator, that Buddha is the sovereign and sole
cause, of whom nature (Prajna) is an effect.
The Swabhavika Buddhas, who derive their capacity of identifying themselves
with the Jirst cause from nature, which is that cause, are as all-accomplished as
the Buddhas of the Aiswarikas, who derive the same capacity from Adi-Buddha,
who is that cause.
In this express character of sovereign cause only, is the Adi-Buddba of the Ais-
warikas distinguishable amid the crowd of Buddhas of all sorts ; and such are the
interminable subtleties of the ' systeme entier ' that he who shall not carefully
I There are in fact five bodies named by me ; see page 92.
* Prakriteswari iti Prajna; and again, Dhdranatmaka iti Dharma. Dharma is a
synonyme of Prajna. Prajna means Supreme Wisdom. Whose? .Nature's — and
nature's, as the sole, or only as the plastic, cause.
So, again, Dharma means mortality in the abstract, or the moral and religious code
of these religionists, or material cause, in either of the two senses hinted at above ; or,
lastly, material effects, viz., versatile worlds. These are points to be settled by the con-
text and by the known tenets of the writer who uses the one or other word : and when
it is known that the very texts of the Sw&bhavikas, differently interpreted, have
served for the basis of the Aiswarika doctrine, I presume no further co-veto can be required.
Q
I I o BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
mark this cardinal point of primary causation, will find all others unavailing to
guide him unconfusedly through the various labyrinths of the several schools.
Did Remusat never meet with passages like the following ?
"And as all other things and beings proceeded from Swabhava or nature, so did
Vajra, Satwa, Buddha, thence called the self-existent:' Even the Swabhavikas have
their Dhyani Buddhas, and their triad, including, of course, an Adi-Buddha.
Names, therefore, are of little weight ; and unmeasured epithets are so profusely
scattered on every hand that the practised alone can avoid their snare. I did not
admit a Theistic school, because I foimd a Buddha designated as Adi, or the first ;
nor yet because I found him yclept infinite, omniscient, eternal, and so forth ;
but because I found him explicitly contradistinguished from nature, and syste-
matically expounded as the efficient cause of all. Nor should it be forgotten that
when I announced the fact of a Theistic sect of Buddhists, I observed that this
eect was, as compared with the Swabhavika, both recent and confined. f
If, in the course of this, and the three preceding letters, I have spoken harshly
of Remusat's researches, let it be remembered, that I conceive my labours to have
been adopted without acknowledgment, as well as my opinions to have been misera-
bly distorted. I have been most courteously told, that " the learned of Europe are
indebted to me for the name of Adi-Buddha ! " The inference is palpable that
that is the extent of the obligation. Such insidious injustice compels me to
avow in the face of the world my conviction that, whatever the Chinese and Mon-
golian works on Buddhism possessed by the French Savans may contain, no in-
telligible views were thence derived of the general subject before my essays
appeared, or could have been afterwards, but for the lights those essays afforded. §
I had access to the original Sanskrit scriptures of the Buddhists, and they were
interpreted to me by learned natives, whose hopes hereafter depended upon a
just understanding of their contents. No wonder, therefore, and little merit, if I
discovered very many things inscrutably hidden from those who were reduced
to considt barbarian translations from the most refined and copious of languages upon
the most subtle and interminable of topics, and who had no living oracle ever
at hand to expound to them the dark signification of the written word — to guide
their first steps through the most labyrinthine of human mazes. ||
For the rest, and personally, there is bienseance for biensSance, and a sincere
tear dropped over the untimely grave of the learned Remusat.
+ Burnouf seems to hold that the transcendentalists had very early an atheistic and
a theistic section, the theistic being the Yogacharyas, whose founder was Arya Sangha,
and that a sect apart from both held the middle path, and were therefore called MAdhya-
mikas.
§ The case is altered materially now; because my original authorities, which stand
far less in need of living interpreters, are generally accessible.
|| I beg to propose, as an expcrimentum cruris, the celebrated text — Ye Dharmdnityd
of the Sata Sdhasrika. If the several theistic, atheistic, and sceptical meanings
wrapped up in these few words, can be reached through Chinese or Mongolian
translations uninterpreted by living authorities, I am content to consider my argument
worthless.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. I I I
NOTE ON THE INSCRIPTION PROM SARNATH.
I have just got the 39th Number of the Journal of the Asiatic Society and
hasten to tell you, that your enigma requires no (Edipus for its solution at Kath-
mandu, where almost every man, woman, and child, of the Bauddha faith, can
repeat the confessio Jidei (for such it may be called), inscribed on the Sarnath
stone. Dr. Mill was perfectly right in denying the alleged necessary connexion
between the inscription, and the complement to it produced by M. Csoma de Koros.
No such complement is needed, nor is found in the great doctrinal authorities,
wherein the passage occurs in numberless places sometimes containing but half of the
complete dogma of the inscription;* thus: — " Ye Dharmd hetu-prabhavd ; hetus
teshdn Tathdgato." Even thus curtailed, the sense is complete, without the "Teshdn
cha yo nirodha, evam (rddi) Mahd Sramana," as you may perceive by the following
translation : —
" Of all things proceeding from cause, the cause is Tathagata;" or, with the
additional word, " Of all things proceeding from cause, the cause (of their proces-
sion) hath the Tathagata explained." To complete the dogma, according to
the inscription, we must add, " The great Sramana hath likewise declared the
cause of the extinction of all things." With the help of the commentators, I
render this passage thus, " The causes of all sentient existence in the versatile world,
the Tathagata hath explained. The Great Sramana hath likewise explained the
causes of the cessation of all such existence. "§
Nothing can be more complete, or more fundamental, than this doctrine. It
asserts that Buddha hath revealed the causes of (animate) mundane existence,
as well as the causes of its complete cessation, implying, by the latter, translation
to the eternal quiescence of Nirvritti, which is the grand object of all Bauddha
vows. The addition to the inscription supplied by M. Csoma, is the ritual appli-
cation merely of the general doctrine of the inscription. It explains especially
the manner in which, according to the scriptures, a devout Buddhist may hope
to attain cessation from mundane existence, viz., by the practice of all virtues,
avoidance of all vices, and by complete mental abstraction. More precise, and as
usually interpreted here, more theistic too, than the first clause of the in-
scription is the terser sentence already given ; which likewise is more familiar
to the Nepalese, viz., " Of all things proceeding from cause, the cause is the Tat-
hagata:"— understanding by Tathagata, Adi-Buddha. And whenever, in playful
mood, I used to reproach my old friend, Amirta Nanda, (now alas ! no more)
with the atheistic tendency of his creed, he would always silence me with, "Ye
Dharmd hetu-prabhavd hetus teshdn Tathdgato ; " insisting, that Tathagata referred
to the supreme, self-existent (SwayarnbhA) Buddha. t
* This curtailed version is traditional not scriptural.
§ See pp. 79-80 for these causes, viz., Avidyd, Sanskdra, etc.
t The great temple of Swayambhu Natli is dedicated to this Buddha : whence its name.
It stands about a mile west from Kathmandu, on a low, richly wooded, and detached
hill, and consists of a hemisphere surmounted by a graduated cone.
The majestic size, and severe simplicity of outline, of this temple, with its burnished
cone, set otf by the dark garniture of woods, constitute the Chaitya of Swayambhu
Nath, a very beauteous object.
I f 2 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Nor did I often care to rejoin, that lie had taught me so to interpret that impor-
tant word (Tathagata) as to strip the dogma of its necessarily theistic spirit ! I
have already remarked in your Journal,* that the Swabhavika texts, differently
interpreted, form the groundwork of the Aiswarika tenets. It will not, however,
therefore, follow, that the theistic school of Buddhism is not entitled to distinct
recognition upon the ground of original authorities; for the oldest and highest
authority of all — the aphorisms of the founder of the creed — are justly deemed,
and proved, by the theistic school, to bear legitimately the construction put upon
them by this school — proved in many ancient books, both Pauranika and Tantrika,
the scriptural validity of which commands a necessary assent. As it seems to be
supposed, that the theistic school has no other than Tantrika authorities for its sup-
port, I will just mention the Swayambhu Parana and the Bhadra Kalpdoaddna, as
instances of the contrary. In a word, the theistic school of Buddhism, though
not so ancient or prevalent as the atheis'.ic and the sceptical schools, is as authentic
and legitimate a scion of the original stock of oral dogmata whence this religion
sprang, as any of the other schools. Nor is it to be confounded altogether with the
vile obscenity and mj'stic mummery of the Tantras, though acknowledged to
have considerable connexion with them. Far less is it to be considered peculiar
to Nepaul and Tibet, proofs of the contrary being accessible to all ; for instance,
the Pancha Buddha Dhydni are inshrined in the cave at Bdgh, and in the minor
temples surrounding the great edifice at Gyd ; as to which see my old Bauddha
Pamlit's report further on. A. Cunningham of Bengal, Wilson of Bombay,
and Chapman of Madras, have all recorded opinions substantially the same. And
I have myself seen a fine image of Padma Pani, the aeon of the Dhydni Buddha
Amitabha, at Karnagurh on the Ganges. As I was looking over your Journal, my
Newari painter came into the room. I gave him the catch word, " Ye Dharnia,'
and he immediately filled up the sentence, finishing with Tathagata. I then
uttered " teshan cha," and he completed the doctrine according to the inscription.
But it was to no purpose that I tried to carry him on through Csoma's ritual com-
plement : he knew it not. After I had explained its meaning to him, he said,
the substance of the passage was familiar to him, but that he had been taught
to utter the sentiments in other words, which he gave, and in which, by the way,
the ordinary Buddhist acceptation of Kusal and its opposite, or Akusal, came
out. Kusal is good. Akusal is evil, in a moral or religious sense. Quod lici-
tum vel mandatum : quod il'licitum vel prohibitum.
I will presently send you a correct transcript of the words of the inscription,
from some old and authentic copy of the Rakshd Bhdgavati, or Prajnd Pdramitd,
as you seem to prefer calling it. So will I of Csoma's supplement so soon as I can
lay my hands on the Shurangamd Samddhi, which I do not think I have by me.
At all events, I do not at once recognise the name as that of a distinct Baud-
dha work. Meanwhile, you will notice, that as my draftsman, above spoken of, is
no pandit, but a perfectly illiterate craitsman merely, his familiar acquaintance
*t. c, J. A. S. B.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. I I 3
with your inscription may serve to show how perfectly familiar it is to all Bud-
dhists. And here I would observe, by the way, that I have no doubt the inscrip-
tion on the Dehli, Allahabad, and Behar pillars is some such cardinal dogma of
this faith.
I am no competent critic of Sanskrit, but I have competent authority for the
assertion, that Dharma, as used in the inscription, means not human actions merely,
but all sentient existences in the three versatile worlds (celestial, terrene, and infer-
nal). Such is its meaning in the famous Ye Dharm&nitya of the Sata Sdhasrika,
where the sense is even larger, embracing the substance of all inanimate as well
as animate entity, thus: "All things are imperishable," or, " The universe is eter-
nal," (without maker or destroyer.) The passage just quoted from the Sata Sd-
hasrika serves likewise (I am assured) to prove that the signification of ye is
not always strictly relative, but often expletive merely : but let that pass.
The points in question undoubtedly are, — existence in the Prdcrittiha or versatile
world, and cessation of such existence, by translation to the world of Nirvrifti;
and of such translation, animals generally, and not human beings solely, are capable.
Witness the deer and the chakwa, which figure so much in Bauddha sculptures !
The tales of their advancement to Nirvritti are popularly familiar. The word
nirodha signifies, almost universally and exclusively, extinction, or total cessation of
versatile existence ; a meaning, by the way, which confirms and answers to the
interpretation of dharma, by general existences, entities, and not by merely hu-
man actions. The causes of versatile existence and of its extinction are given at
pp. 79-80.
It is scarcely worth while to cumber the present question with the further
remark that there is a sect of Bauddha philosophers holding opinions which confound
onscious actions with universal entities throughout the versatile world, making
the latter originate absolutely and physically from the former, (see my remarks on
Rmnusat in the Journal, No. 33, p. 431.)
It is not, however, admissible so to render generally received texts, as to make
them correspondent to very peculiar dogmata. " Dhdrandtmaha iti dharma"
1 the holding, containing, or sustaining, essence (ens) is dharma.1 The sub-
stratum of all form and quality in the versatile universe, the sustainer (in space)
of versatile entity, mundane substances and existences, physical and moral, in a word,
all things. Such is the general meaning of dharma. How many other meanings
it has, may be seen by reference to a note at the foot of p. 502, No. 34, of your
Journal.* The root of the word is dhri, ' to hold.' Wilson's dictionary gives
Nature as Amara Sinha's explanation of dharma. This is essentially correct, as
might be expected from a Bauddha lexicographer. The English word "substance"
is the precise equivalent of dharma, which means that which supports qualities
in space, and of the Brahmanic mdtrd, meaning that which measures space or
limits space, because space is only measurable by the substances it holds. I
speak here merely of etymologies.
*See p. 109, in notes.
I [4 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Note. If Mr. Hodgson's general interpretation of dharma is the true one, (which
seems most probable, though its specification in the sense of moral duties is more
agreeable to M. Csoma's supplement) — its implication, in the present reading, at
least, appears manifestly atheistic. For that it cannot mean " Tathagata or the
Adi-Buddha is the cause," is evident from the accusative hetun (which is also
plural, cansas.) Even if we were to strike out the word avadat or aha — the former
of which is on the inscriptions, and the latter repeated in Ceylon — still some
word of that meaning is plainly understood : and this may help to shew that the
explication given by the Aiswarika Buddhists (as though the words were he'tus
te.diain Tathagatas) is a more recent invention, — and that the Buddhist system
properly recognizes no being superior to the sage expounder of physical and
moral causes, — whose own exertions alone have raised him to the highest rank
of existences, — the Epicurus of this great Oriental system,
qui potuit reruni cognoscere causas,
Atque metus omnes et inexorabile fatum
Subjecit pedibus.
What is mere figure of speech in the Roman poet, to express the calm dignity
of wisdom, becomes religious faith in the east ; viz., the elevation of a philosophical
opponent of popular superstition and Brahmanical caste, to the character of a being
supreme over all visible and invisible things, and the object of universal worship.
— W. H. M.
Note on the Note of W. H. M, — My friendly and learned annotator is right as
to the comparative recency of the Aiswarika school and may find that opinion long
since expressed by myself. But he is wrong in supposing that that school has no
old or unquestionable basis ; for both Mr. Csoma and myself have pi-oduced genuine
and ancient authorities in its support. So that it is hardly fair to revert to the
fancies of Sir W. Jones' day, under cover of a Latin quotation ! As to verbal
criticism, it is surely scarce necessary to observe that the governing verb being
removed, the noun will take the nominative case. I quoted popular words popu-
larly and omitted the nice inflexions of case and number. That my terser text is
familiar to the mouths of Buddhists, is an unquestionable fact ; and I never
said, either that this terser form was that of the inscription, or that I had seen
scriptural authority for it, ipsissimis verbis.
The express causes of versatile existence, alluded to by Sakya, in the text
graved at Sarnath, are Avidya, Sanskara, etc., as enumerated in my "Quotations
in Proof" under the head of the Karmika doctrine ; and there, too, may be found
the causes of the extinction of such existence. See pp. 79-80 of this vol. This
passage is the true complement or exponent of the ye dharmd, and leaves no possi-
ble doubt as to its meaning.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 11$
NOTICE OP ADI-BUDDHA AND OF THE SEVEN MORTAL BUDDHA8,*
(With reference to Nepaul chiefly)
FROM THE SWAYAMBHU PURANA.
The Swayambhu Purdna relates in substance as follows : That formerly the
valley of Nepaul was of circular form, and full of very deep water, and that the
mountains confining it were clothed with the densest forests, giving shelter to
numberless birds and beasts. Countless waterfowl rejoiced in the waters. The
name of the lake was Naga Vasa;§ it was beautiful as the lake of Indra; south of
the Hemachal, the residence of Karkotaka, prince of the Nagas ; seven cos long,
and as many broad. In the lake were many sorts of water-plants ; but not the
lotos. After a time, Vipasyi Buddha arrived, with very many disciples and
Bhikshus, from Vindumati Nagar, in Madhya Desa, at the Lake of Naga Vasa,
in the course of his customary religious peregrinations. Vipasyi, having thrice
circumambulated the lake, seated himself in the N. W. (Vayukona) side of
it, and, having repeated several mantras over the root of a lotos, he threw it into
the water, exclaiming, " What time this root shall produce a flower, then, from
out of the flower, Swayambhii, the Lord of Agnishtha Bhuvana, shall be revealed
in the form of flame ; and then shall the lake become a cultivated and populous
country.'* Having repeated these words, Vipasyi departed. Long after the date
of this prophecy, it was fulfilled according to the letter.
After Vipasyi Buddha, came Sikhi Buddha to Naga Vasa with a great
company of respectful followers, composed of rajas and persons of the four castes
(chatur varna). Sikhi, so soon as he beheld Jyoti-rupa-Swayainbhii, offered to him
many laudatory forms of prayer : then rising, he thrice walked round Naga Vasa,
and, having done so, thus addressed his disciples . "This place shall hereafter, by
the blessing of Swayambhu, become a delightful abode to those who shall resort
to it from all quarters to dwell in it, and a sweet place of sojourn for the pilgrim
and passenger : my apotheosis is now near at hand, do you all take your leave of
me and depart to your own country." So saying Sikhi threw himself into the
waters of Naga Vasa, grasping in his hands the stalk of the lotos, and his soul
was absorbed into the essence of Swayambhu. Many of his disciples, following
their master, threw themselves into the lake, and were absorbed into Swayambhu,
i. e., the self-existent ; the rest returned home. Viswabhu was the third
Buddha who visited Naga Vasa. Viswabhu was born in Anupama-puri-nagar, of
Madhya Desa ; his life was devoted to benefitting his fellow-creatures. His visit to
Nepaul was long after that of Sikhi, and, like Sikhi, he brought with him a great
many disciples and Bhikshus, Rajas and cultivators, natives of his own land.
Having repeated the praises of Swayatnbhu-jyoti-rupa, he observed ; " In this lake
* Printed from the Bengal Asiatic Journal, No. 29, A. D. 1834.
§ When the lake was desiccated (by the sword of Manjusri says the myth — pro-
bably earthquake) Karkotaka had a fine tank built for him to dwell in ; and there he
is still worshipped, also in the cave-temple appendant to the great Buddhist shrine of
Swayambhu Nith.
I I 6 BUDDniST PHILOSOPHY.
Prajna-surupa-Guhycswari* will be produced. A Bodhisatwa will, in time, make
her manifest out of the waters : and this place, through the blessing- of Swayambhu,
will become replete with villages, towns, and tirthas, and inhabitants of various
and diverse tribes." Having thus prophesied he thrice circumambulated the lake*
and returned to his native country. The Bodhi-atwa above alluded to is Manju
Sri, J whose native place is very far off, towards the north, and is called Pancha Sirsha
Parvata, [which is situated in Malta China Des.§] After the coming of Viswabhu
Buddha to Naga Vasa, Manju Sri, meditating upon what was passing in the world,
discovered by means of his divine science that Swayambhii-jyoti-rupa, that is, the
self-existent, in the form of flame, was revealed out of a lotos in the lake of
Naga Vasa. Again, he reflected within himself : " Let me behold that sacred
spot, and my name will long be celebrated in the world;" and on the instant, col-
lecting together his disciples, comprising a multitude of the peasantry of the land,
and a Raja named Dharmakar, he assumed the form of Viswakarma, and with his
two Devfs (wives,) and the persons above-mentioned, set out upon the long
journey from Sirsha Parvata to Naga Vasa. There having arrived, and having
made piija. to the self-existent, he began to circumambulate the lake, beseeching
all the while the aid of Swayambhu in prayer. In the second circuit, when he had
reached the central barrier mountain to the south, he became satisfied that that
was the best place whereat to draw off the waters of the lake. Immediately
he struck the mountain with his scimitar, when the sundered rock gave passage to
the waters, and the bottom of the lake became dry. He then descended from
the mountain, and began to walk about the valley in all directions. As he
approached Gukyeswarf,|| he beheld the water bubbling up violently from the
spot, and betook himself with pious zeal to the task of stopping it. No sooner had
he commenced than the ebullition of the water became less violent, when,
leaving bare only the flower of the lotos, the root of which is the abode of
Guhyeswari, he erected a protecting structure of stone and brick over the recum-
* That is the mystic form of Prajna, who is the same with Dharma and the
Sakti of Swayambhu or Adi-Buddha, according to the Triadists. The type of Adi-
Bnddha in Xepaul is fire — that of Adi-Dharma, or Prajna or Guhyeswari is water — or
she has no type, is of a secret form, i.e.., Guhyeswari, or lastly, according to the Tan-
tras, her type is the Yoni, which, as well as the whole ritual belonging to it, is Guhya
or esoteric and concealed.
% The Tibetans identify Manjusri 'with Tim mi Sam bhota, minister of King Srong-
tsan, who lived in the seventh century, and was the great, introducer of Buddhism into
Tibet. Manjusri' s Tibetan name is Jam yang; Thumi is an incarnation of him.
§The bracketed portions are from the commentators.
|| The site of the temple is near the centre of the valley, on the skirts of the lovely
grove of Pasupati ; and above 24 or 3 miles east from Mount Sambhii. The fable
says, that the root of the lotos of Guhyeswari is at the former place, and the flower
at the latter ; the recumbent stalk being extended throughout the interval between
them. Swayambhu or Adi-Buddha is supposed to reside in the flower, in the form of
flame; Prajna, Paramita or Guhyeswari, in or at the root, in the form of water. The
temple of Guhyeswari has been appropriated by the Brahinans, who woiship this god-
dess as the Sakti of Pasupati NAth, whose symbol is the four-faced Lingam. But it may
be that the Buddhists are wrong in identifying Guhyeswari with Prajna, and that
Guhyeswari, the Sakti of Pa-upati NAth, is really one of the deities or Nathism— a
half orthodox (Goraksha nath) and half heterodox ^Matsyendra nath) divinity.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 1 7
bent stalk, and called the structure, which rose into a considerable elevation as it
neared the flower of the lotos, Satya Giri, This work completed, Manju Sri
began to look about him in search of a fit place of residence, and at length
constructed for that purpose a small hill, to which he gave the name of Manju Sri
Parvata, (the western half of the little hill of Sambhii Nath,) and called the
desiccated valley, Nepdld — Xe signifying ' the sender ' (to paradise,) who is Swa-
yamhhii, and paid ' cherished ' ; implying that the protecting genius of the valley
was Swayambhii or Adi-Buddha. Thus the valley got the name of Nepala : and,
since very many persons had come from Mount Sirsha (or China) with Manju
Sri, for the residence of Dharmakar Raja and his suite, Manju constructed a
large place of abode [half way between Mount Swayambhii and Guhyeswari,]
and named it after himself, Manju Pattana, and established therein Dharmakar
[of Maka China] as Raja, subjecting the whole of the inferior sort of people who
came from Sirsha Parvata to Dharmakar'a rule, and providing abodes for them in
the city of Manju Pattana.
[Thus was Nepaul peopled, the first inhabitants of which came all from Moimt
Sirsha, which is in Maha China, and thus the valley got the name of Nepala,
and its inhabitants, that of Nepali, whose primitive language was Chinese.*
This language in course of time came to be much altered by the immigration of
people from Madhya Desa, and by the necessary progress of corruption and
change in a new country, till a new language arose in Nepaul by the natural
course of things. The primitive inhabitants of Nepaul were all of one caste, or
had no caste. But their descendants, in the course of time became divided into
many castes, according to the trades and professions which they followed ; and of
these, such as abandoned the world and shaved their heads became Bhikshu,
Sramana, Chailaka, and Arhana, and took up their abode in forests or in monas-
teries. These four orders all monastic ; and in strictness absolutely excluded from
all worldly commerce. But should any of them, still retaining the custom of tonsure,
become worldly men, such are called Sravaka, etc. to a great extent of diverse
names.] Manju Sri, having by such deeds as these acquired the highest celebrity
in Nepaul, [ostensibly, and for the instruction of the people] relinquished his
mortal form and became nirvdn ; [but in truth departed for Mount Sirsha with
his two Devis, and in due course arrived at Pancha Sirsha Parvata.] Some time
after the disappearance of Manju Sri, Karkut Sand Buddha came to Nepaul, with
some Bhikshukas, Dkarniapala Raja, and a multitude of the common people,
from Kshemavatinagar, of Madhya Desa. The beauty of the country delighted
* Manju Sri or -Manju Ghosha (sweet voice) and Dharmakar are pure Sanskrit
words, which fact makes against the alleged location of Mount Sirsha (also Sans-'
krit)in China, and there are grounds for supposing that mount Sirsha was in Assam.
In the NTepaulese Vansavalis the first race of kings are apparently GwaHas and Saivas,
or rather Pasupatas, who worshipped Pasupati and received the throne from a Rishi called
Neyam. But this dynasty is open to doubt in all ways. The next dynasty is clearly
barbarian and utterly alien to Sanskrit and India, It is of the Kiranti tribe now loca-
ted in all the eastern part of Nepaul. This evidence is indecisive. What says the
Skand Parana, and what is its age compared with that of the Sambhu Parana ? Physi-
ognomy and speech decisively refer the Newars to the Tibetan stock.
Ql
Il8 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
him, and he remarked that in such a land the cultivator must be sure to reap
as he sowed. He paid his devotions to Swayainbhii, and then launched out in
praise of the merits of Manju Sri, the Nepaulese patriarch. Afterwards he per-
formed pujd to Guhyeswari, and then ascended Sankhocha mountain (Siva Pura :)
the prospect of that valley from that mount filled him with fresh delight, and he
again celebrated the excellence of the country. Gunadhvaja, a brahman, and Abha-
yandada, a kshetriya, and others of the four castes (chatiir varna,) respectful
followers of Kurkut Sand, here solicited at his hands the favour of being made
Bhikshukas, in order that they might remain in this happy land, and by the
worship of Swayambhii attain to high merit and honour. Kurkut cheerfully com-
plied, and agreed to make a great many of the company Bhikshukas ; and since
the mountain top afforded no water for that ceremony, he by his divine power
caused a spring to issue from the rock, and with its waters gave to his followers
the requisite Abhisheka or baptism. He called the river that originated with
this spring Vangmati ; * and then related to his followers both the past and future
history of the valley watered by the Vangmati. Then, having left behind him
in Nepaul, Raja Dharmapal and some Bhikshus and common folks, who had come
with him, and desired to stay, Kurkut Sand departed with the rest of them to his
native city of Kshemavati. [These companions of Kurkut Sand, or Krakucckand,
were the first natives of the plains of India (Madhya l)esa) who remained in Ne-
paul. Many of them, addicting themselves to the business of the world, became
householders, and the founders of several towns and villages in Nepaul ; whilst
others, who adopted the ascetical profession, dwelt in the forests and Vihars.
When these Madhyadesiyas had become numerous in Nepaul, they and their
descendants were confounded with the former or northern colonists under the com-
mon appellation of Nepali and Newari ; being only separated and contradistin-
guished by the several trades and professions which they hereditarily practised.
Thus, in the early ages, Nepaul had four classes of secular people, as Brahman,
Kshetriya, Vaisya, and Sudra, and four ascetical classes, namely, Bhikshu, Sra-
mana,t Chailaka, and Arhanta, dwelling in forests and monasteries, and all were
Buddha-mdrgi. ]
ACCOUNT OF DHARMAKAR EAJA AND DHARMAPAL RAJA.
Dharmakar, the before noted [Chinese] prince of Nepaul, being disgusted with
the world, abandoned his sovereign power, and placed Dharmapal, the Raja of
Gaur-des, already mentioned, upon his throne. Dharmapdl governed his sub-
jects with perfect justice and clemency, and made piija at -the Chaitya erected by
Dharmakar, and regarded with equal favour his subjects that came from Mount
Sirsha [or Malm China,] and those who immigrated from Madhya-desa.
account of prachanda deva. — Prachanda Deva, a Raja of Gaur-dos,
which is adjacent to Madhya-des, and of the Kshatriya tribe, was the wise man
of hia age and country. At length, being inspired with the ambition of becoming
*From Vach, 'speech.'
f Snlvaka and Sramana are equivalent.
BUDDniST PHILOSOPHY. I 1 9
nirvdna, he abandoned his princely sway ; and taking with him a few sages, he
began to wander over various countries, visiting all the shrines and pilgrimages,
and in the course of his peregrinations arrived at Nepaul. He was delighted
with the beauty of the country, and having visited every tirtha, and pith, and
devatd, and having made pujd to the Tri Ratna, or triad, he went to the temple of
Swayambhii, and there performed his devotions. He then ascended Manju Sri
Parbat, and offered his prayers to Manju Sri, and finished by becoming a disciple
of Gunakar Bhikshu, a follower of Manju Sri. One day Prachanda Deva eo de-
lighted Gunakar with the display of his excellent qualities, that Gunakar made
him a Bhikshuka ; and the said Raja Prachanda after becoming a Bhikshu,
obtained the titular appellation of Santa Sri. [A great many Brahmans and
others who accompanied Prachanda to Nepaul received the tonsure, and became
Bhikshus at the same time with Prachanda, and took up their abode in the monas-
teries of Nepaul. Some others of those that came with Prachanda to Nepaul pre-
ferring the pursuits of the world, continued to exercise them in Nepaul, where
they also remained and became Buddhists. A third portion of Prachanda's com-
panions returned to Gaur-des.] After a time, Santa Sri represented to his Guru
Gunakar his desire to protect the sacred flame of Swayambhii with a covering
structure. Gunakar was charmed with the proposition and proposer, and having
purified him with thirteen sprinklings of sacred water (trayodasdbhisheka,) gave
him the title of Dikshita Santikar Vajra Acharya. [From these transactions is
dated the arrival of the people of Gaur-des in Nepaul, and their becoming
Buddhists.]
account of kanaka muni. — Once on a time, from Subhavatfnagar of Madhya-
des, Kanaka Muni Buddha, with many disciples, some illustrious persons, and a
countless multitude of common people, arrived at Nepaul, in the course of his
religious peregrinations, and spent some months in the worship of Swayambhii,
and the Tri Ratna, and then departed with most of his attendants. A few re-
mained in Nepaul, who became Buddha-margi and worshippers of Swayambhii ;
[and these too, like all the preceding, soon lost their name and character as Madhya-
desiyas, and were blended with the Nepali or Newari race.]
account of kasyapa buddha. — Once on a time in Mrigadaba-vana, near Be-
nares, Kasyapa Buddha was born. He visited Nepaul in pilgrimage, and made
his devotions to Sambhunath. [Most of the people who came with him staid
in Nepaul, and soon became confounded with the aborigines.]
account of sakya sinha buddha. — Some time after Kasyapa's visit at Gauga
Stigara,* in the sthan of Kapila Muni, and city of Kapila-vastu, and reign of
Suddhodana Raja, of the Saka-vansa, was born (as the son of that Raja) Sarvartha
Siddha, who afterwards became a Buddha with the name of Sakya Sinha. Sakya,
with 1,350 Bhikskukas, and the Raja of Benares, several counsellors of state,
* Ganga, Sagara, says Wilson, has no necessary connection with the ocean. For the
site of Kapila-pur see Laidlay's Fahian. But I doubt it' the site were so far from
the hills. Timur, in his annals, says that he took it and speaks of it as though it were
actually in the hills, a mountain fastness in fact.
120 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
and a crowd of peasantry of that kingdom, set out on the pilgrimage to Nepaul.
Having paid his devotions to the self-existent, in the form of flame, he went to
the Chaitya or Puchhagra Hill,t and repeated to his disciples the past history of
Nepaul, as well as its whole future history, with many praises of Manju Sri
Bodbisatwa : he then observed, " In all the world are twenty-four Piths, and of all
these that of Nepaul is the best." Having so said, he departed. His companions,
who were of the Chatur varna, or four castes, [Brahman, Kshatriya, Yaisya, and
Siidra,] and belonged to the four orders, [Bhikshu, and Sramana, and Chailaka, and
Arhant,] being much pleased with Nepal-des continued to dwell in it ; [and in
course of time were blended with the aboriginal Nepali's, and became divided
into several castes, according to the avocations which they hereditarily pursued.]
Some time after the date of the above transaction, Raja Gunakama Deva, prince of
Katkniaiidu, [a principal city of Nepaul,] became the disciple of the above-
mentioned Santikar Vajra Acharya. Guna Kama Deva, with the aid derived
from the divine merits of Santikar, brought the Nag Raja KarkotakaJ out of the
lake or tank of Adhar, and conveyed him to Santipiir with much ceremony and
many religious rites. The cause of this act was that for many previous years there
had been a deficiency of rain, whereby the people had been grievously distressed
with famine ; and its consequence was an ample supply of rain, and the return
of the usual fertility of the earth and plenty of food.§
Subsequently, Sri Narendra Deva became Raja of Bhagatpattan, (or Bhatgaon ;)
he was the disciple of Bandudatta Acharya, and brought Aryavalokiteswara*
(Padma Pani) from Putalakaparvat (in Assam) to the city of Lalita pattan in
Nepaul. The reason of inviting this divinity to Nepaul was a drought of twelve
years duration, and of the greatest severity. The measure was attended with
like happy results, as in the case of conveying the Nag Raja with so much honour
to Santipiir.
NOTE ON THE PRIMARY LANGUAGE OF THE BUDDHIST WRITINGS. ||
I have read article n. of the 6Gth No. of your Journal with great interest.
With regard to the language in which the religion of Sakya, ' was preached
and spread among the people,' I perceive nothing opposed to my own opinions
in the fact that that language was the vernacular.
There is merely in your case, as priorly in that of Mr. Tumour, some misappre-
hension of the sense in which I spoke to that point.
t Part of Mount Sambhu, west of the great Chaitya ; also called Go-pucch.
X Karkotaka is named in the SwnMtd. And in the annals of Cashmir he figures
as conspicuously as in Nepaul. The Nagas and Indra maintain still in Nepaul a deal
of their pristine authority, and in connection one with the other : for the Nagas are
invoked for rain.
§ The Nagas are still worshipped in Santipiir whenever the rains are deficient, in
conformity with this legend and with the original one of the lake as being the N&gvasa.
* Is Avalokeswara the same as Matsyendra Nath, whose arrival in Nepaul is referred
to the fifth century of Christ by well known memorial verses? The identification with
Padma Pani vests on Sastras of Nepaul and of China. SeeJ.R.A.S., new series, vol.
ii., part i., p. 137.
|l Printed from the Bengal Asiatic Journal, No. 68, A. d. 1837.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 2 I
The preaching- and spreading of the religion is a very different thing from the
elaboration of those speculative principles from which the religion was deduced.
In the one case, the appeal would be to the many ; in the other, to the few. And
wkilst I am satisfied that the Buddhists as practical reformers addressed themselves
to the people, and as propagandists used the vulgar tongue, I think that those
philosophical dogmata which formed the basis of the popular creed, were enounced,
defended and systematised in Sanskrit. I never alleged that the Buddhists had
eschewed the Prakrits : I only denied the allegation that they had eschewed the
Sanskrit ; and I endeavoured, at the same time, to reconcile their use of both, by
drawing a distinction between the means employed by their philosophers to establish
the principles of this religion, and the means employed by their missionaries to
propagate the religion itself.
Joinville had argued that Buddhism was an original creed, older than Brahman-
ism, because of the grossness of its leading tenets which savour so much of ' flat
atheism.'
I answered that Buddhism was an innovation on the existing creed, and that all
the peculiarities of the religion of Sakya could be best and only explained by
advertence to shameful prior abuse of the religions sanction, whence arose the
characteristic Bauddha aversion to gods and priests, and that enthusiastic self-
reliance taught by Buddhism in express opposition to the servile extant reference
of all things to heavenly and earthly mediation. Jones, again, had argued that the
Buddhists used only the Prakrit, i. e., Pali, because the books of Ceylon and Ava,
(the only ones then forthcoming,*) were solely in that language or dialect. I
answered by producing a whole library of Sanskrit works in which the principles
of Buddhism are more fully expounded than in all the legendary tomes of Ceylon
and Ava; I answered, further, by pointing to the abstruse philosophy of Bud-
dhism, to the admitted preeminence, as scholars, of its expounders ; and to
their location in the most central and literary part of India (Behar and Aiidh).
With the Sanskrit at command, I asked and ask again, why men so placed and gifted,
and having to defend their principles in the schools against ripe scholars from all
parts of India (for those were days of high debate and of perpetual formal dis-
putation in palaces and in cloisters) should be supposed to have resorted to a
limited and feebler organ when they had the universal and more powerful one equally
available ? The presumption that they did not thus postpone Sanskrit to Prakrit
is, in my judgment, worth a score of any inferences deduceable from monumental
slabs, backed as this presumption is by the Sanskrit records of Buddhism
discovered here. Those records came direct from the proximate head quarters
of Buddhism. And, if the principles of this creed were not expounded and syste-.
matised in the schools of India in Sanskrit, what are we to make of the Ne-
paulese Sanskrit originals and of the avowed Tibetan translations ? In my
judgment the extent and character of these works settle the question that the philo-
sophic founders of Buddhism used Sanskrit and Sanskrit only, to expound, defend
* Sir W. Jones had, however, in his possession a Sanskrit copy of the Lalita Vts-
tara, and had noticed the personification of Diva Natura under tin style of Arya Tara,
122 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
and record the speculative principles of their system, principles without which the
vulgar creed would be (for us,) mere leather and prunella ! Nor is this opinion in
the least opposed to your notion (mine too) that the practical system of belief, de-
duced from those principles, was spread among the people of the spot, as well as
propagated to remoter spots, by means of the vernacular.
It is admitted that Buddhism was long taught in Ceylon without the aid of
Books : and that the first book reached that island nearly 300 years after the intro-
duction of the creed.
Here is a distinct admission of what I long since inferred from the general cha-
racter of the religion of Sakya in that island, viz., the protracted total want, and
ultimate imperfect supply, of those standard written authorities of the sect
which regulated belief and practice in Magadha, in Kosala and Hdjayriha, — in a
word, in the Metropolis of Buddhism. From this metropolis the authorities
in question were transferred directly and immediately to the proximate hills of
Nepaul, where and where only, I believe, they are now to be found. If not trans-
lations, the books of Ceylon have all the appearance of being ritual collectanea,
legendary hearsays, and loose comments on received texts — all which would natu-
rally be written in the vulgar tongue.* To these, however, we must add some
very important historical annals, detailing the spread and diffusion of Buddhism.
Similar annals are yet found in Tibet, but, as far as I know, not in Nepaul, for what
reason it is difficult to divine.
But these annals, however valuable to us, for historical uses, are not the original
written standard of faith ; and until I see the Prajnd Pdramitd and the nine Dhar-
mas\ produced from Ceylon, I must continue of the opinion that the Buddhists
of that island drew their faith from secondary, not primary sources ; and that whilst
the former were in Ceylon as elsewhere, vernacular ; the latter were in MayadJia
and Kosala, as they are still in Nepaid, classical or Sanskrit !
Certainly Buddhism, considered in the practical view of a religious system,
always appealed to the common sense and interest of the many, inscribing its most
sacred texts (Sanskrit and Prakrit) on temple walls and on pillars, placed in
market, highroad and cross-road.
This material fact (so opposite to the genius of Brahmanism,) I long since
called attention to ; and thence argued that the inscriptions on the lata would be
probably found to be of scriptural character.
The tendency of your researches to prove that the elaborate forms of the
Devanagari were constructed from simpler elements, more or less appropriated to
the popular Bkashas, is very curious ; and seems to strengthen the opinion of
those who hold Hindi to be indigenous, older than Sanskrit in India, and not (as
Colebrooke supposed) deduced from Sanskrit. If Buddhism used these primitive
letters before the Devanagari existed, the date of this creed would seem to be
* Such works written in the vulgar tongue are common in Nepaid, and frequently we
have a Sanskrit text with a vernacular running commentary.
•f-They have one of the nine, mz., the Lalita Vistara; but M. Burnouf assures me, in
a miserably corrupted state. Now, as this work is forthcoming iu a faultless state in
Sanskrit, I say the Pali version must be a translation.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 23
thrown back to a remote asra, or, the Sanskrit letters and language must be
comparatively recent.
I can trace something very like Buddhism into far ages and realms : but I am
sure that that Buddhism which has come down to us in the Sanskrit, Pali and
Tibetan books of the sect, and which alone therefore we- do or can know, is
neither old nor exotic. That Buddhism (the doctrines of the so called sect nth
Buddha) arose in the middle of India, in comparatively recent times, and expressly
out of those prior abominations which had long held the people of India in
cruel vassalage to a bloated priesthood.
The race of Sdka, or progenitors of Sdkya Sinha (by the way, the Sinha proves
that the princely style was given to him until he assumed the ascetic habit) may
have been Scythians or Northmen, in one sense ; and so probably were the Brah-
mans in that same sense, viz., with reference to their original seat. (Brachmanes
nomen gentis diffusissimce, cu/us maxima pars in montibus degit ; reliqui circa Gan-
gem.)
If one's purpose and object were to search backwards to the original hive of
nations, one might, as in consistency one should, draw Brahmanism and Buddhism,
Yyasa and Sakya, from Tartary. * All I say is, that quoad the known and recor-
ded man and thing — Sakya Sinha and his tenets — they are indisputably Indian
and recent. f
I incline to the opinion that Hindi may be older in India than Sanskrit, and
independent, originally, of Sanskrit. But were this so, and were it also true that
the Buddhists used the best dialect of Hindi {that however is saturated with
Sanskrit, whateveritsprimal independence), such admissions would rather strengthen
than weaken the argument from language against the exotic origin of Buddhism. J
According to this hypothesis, Hindi is not less, but more, Indian than Sanskrit :
and, a fortiori, so is the religion assumed to have committed its records to Hindi.
But, in very truth, the extant records of Buddhism, whether Sanskrit or
Prakrit, exhibit both languages in a high state of refinement ; and though one or
both tongues came originally from Tartary, they received that refinement in India,
where, certainly, what we know as Buddhism, (by means of these records) had
its origin, long after Brahmanism had flourished there in all its mischievous rnio-ht.
P. S. You will, I hope, excuse my having adverted to some other controverted
topics besides that which your paper immediately suggested. These questions are
a good deal linked together : for instance, if Buddhism furnishes internal evi-
dence throughout its most authentic records that it is the express antithesis of
* That is from a country to the north-west of Hindostan — a country beyond the Indus
— and no doubt the country called Ariana or Iran, in the widest sense, but not Turan or-
Tartary as we call it, for nons of the Tartar races were literary, and even to this hour
the Turks only have some poor and borrowed pretensions to literature. The ITi-
ghours got their alphabet from the Nestorians, and the Mongols theirs from the Uighours.
f According bo all Bauddha authorities tin- lineage of the whole seven mortal Buddhaa
is expressly stated to he Brahmanical or Kshatriya! What is the answer to this ?
+ Our own distinguished Wilson has too easily followed the continental European
writers in identifying the Saka vansa with the classical Sacse or Scythians, and Bud-
dhism with Samanism. The Tartars of our day avow that thry got all their knowledge
from India; teste Kahgyvr ct Stangyur.
124 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Brahmanism, its posteriority of date to the latter is decided, as well as its jealousy
of priestly pretensions. Nee clericis infinita out libera potestas, is a deduction which
only very precise and weighty evidence will suffice to set aside : I have seen
none such yet from Ceylon or from Ava. And be it observed, I here advert
to authentic scriptural tenets, and not to popular corruptions resulting' from the
facile confusion of the monastic with the clerical character.
Note. We are by no means prepared to enter into a controversy on a subject
on which we profess but a slight and accidental acquaintance : nor will we arro-
gate to ourselves the distinction of having entered the lists already occupied by
such champions as Mr. Hodgson and Mr. Tumour, who have both very strong
arguments to bring forward, in support of their opposite views. As far as the
Dharmalipi could be taken as evidence the vernacularists had the right to it ; but
on the other hand there can be no doubt, as Mr. Hodgson says, that all scholastic
disputation with the existing Brahmanical schools which Sakya personally visited
and overcame, must have been conducted in the classical language. The only ques-
tion is, whether any of these early disquisitions have been preserved, and whether,
for example, the Life of Sakya, called the Lalita Vistara, found by Professor Wil-
son to agree verbatim with the Tibetan translation examined simultaneously by Mr.
Csoma, has a greater antiquity than the Pitakattayan of Ceylon ? We happen
fortuitously to have received at this moment two letters bearing upon the point in
dispute from which we gladly avail ourselves of an extract or two : — Mr. Tumour,
alluding to the notice of the life of Sakya from the Tibetan authorities by Mr.
Csoma in the As. Res. vol. xx. writes — " The Tibetan life is apparently a very
meagre performance, containing scarcely anything valuable in the department of
history ; whereas had the materials whence it was taken been genuine, the trans-
lator would have been able to bring forward and illustrate much valuable infor-
mation on the pilgrimages and the acts of Sakya in various parts of India during
the forty-five 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 preg-
nancy,— is converted into a matter of fact, of Sakya, ' 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 Chhadanta is the name of a lake beyond the Himalaya mountains where
the elephants are of a superior breed.* It is mentioned twice in the Mahdwanso;
chaps, v. and xxii."
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
* Let zoologists say what they think of the rationality of this story. I would add
that refilling of the sense of old legends is a common practise of later times.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 125
by such an impartial examination. || But to return to the subject under discus-
sion ; my friend Mr. Csoma writes from Titalya in the Purniya district : —
" In reference to your and Mr. Tumour's opinion that the original records of the
Buddhists in ancient India, were written in the Mdgadhi dialect, I beg leave to
add in support of it, that in the index or register, (dkar-chhag) of the Kahgyur,
it is stated that the Sutras in general — i. e., all the works in the Kahgyur, except
the twenty-one volumes of the Sher-chhin* and the twenty-two volumes of the
rGyud class, after the death of Sakya, were first written in the Sindhu language,
and the Sher-chhin and rGyud in the Sanskrit : but part of the i-Gyud also in
several other corrupt dialects. It is probable that in the seventh century and after-
wards, the ancient Buddhistic religion was remodelled and generally written in
Sanskrit,§ before the Tibetans commenced its introduction by translation into their
own country."
This explanation, so simple and so authentic, ought to set the matter at rest,
and that in the manner that the advocates of either view should most desire,
for it shews that both are right ! — It is generally allowed that the Pali and the
Zend are derivatives of nearly the same grade from the Sanskrit stock ; and the
modern dialect of Sindh as well as the Bhdshd of upper and western India present
more striking analogies to the Pali, in the removal particularly of the r, and the
modification of the auxiliary verbs, than any of the dialects of Bengal, Behdr, or
Ceylon. \\ Plausible grounds for the existence of this western dialect in the
heart of Magadha, and the preference given it in writings of the period, may be
found in the origin of the ruling dynasty of that province, which had confes-
sedly proceeded from the north-west. At any rate those of the Sdkya race, which
had emigrated from Sinde to Kapilavastu (somewhere in the Gangetic valley) may
|| As an example of the information already obtained from Mr. Csoma's translated
sketch, we may adduce the origin of the custom seemingly so universal among the Bud-
dhists 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 Ajata
Satru thereof lest he should faint from the shock, and it is suggested by Mahakasyapa
by way of breaking the intelligence to him, that the Mahdmantra or chief priest should
"go speedily into the king's garden, and cause to be represented in painting, how Chom-
dandas ( Bhagavdn) was in Tushita : 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 Vdrdnasl he turned the wheel of the law of twelve kinds, (taught his doc-
trines :')— how he at Srdvasti displayed great miracles ; — how at the city of Ghachen he
descended from the Trayastrhisa heaven, whither he had gone to instruct his mother :
—and lastly, how having accomplished his acts in civilizing and instructing men in
his doctrine at several places, he went to his last repose in the city of Kusha in As-
sam." 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 Ajanta, perchance, or the sculptures of Bhilsa, with a full vol-
ume of the life of Sdkya in our hand. Similar paintings are common in Ava, and an
amusing, but rather aprocryphal, series may be seen in Upham's folio history of
Buddhism.
*This exception embraces the whole speculative tenets or philosophy of Buddhism.
§ This is a daring hypothesis, contrary, I think, to all legitimate presumptions.
Where were the books remodelled, and why in Sanskrit if their prototypes were
Sanskrit.
|| See the Rev. Dr. Mill's note on this subject in the Jour. B. As. Soc. vol. v., p. 30 ;
also Professor Wilson's remarks, vol. i. p. 8.
Rl
126 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
have preserved the idiom of this native province and have caused it to prevail along
with the religion which was promulgated through its means.*
We are by no means of opinion that the Hindi, Sindhi, or Pali had an indepen-
dent origin prior to the Sanskrit. The more the first of these, which is the most
modern form and the farthest removed from the classical language, is examined
and analyzed the more evidently is its modification and corruption from the ancient
stock found to follow systematic rules, and to evince rather provincial dialectism
(if I may use the word) than the mere engraftment of foreign words upon a pre-
existent and written language. The aboriginal terms of Indian speech must be
rather sought in the hills and in the peninsula ; in the plains and populous dis-
tricts of the north the evidences of their existence are necessarily smothered by
the predominance of the refined and durable languages of the court, of religion
and of the educated classes. A writer in the Foreign Quarterly has lately been bold
enough to revive the theory of Sanskrit being merely a derivative from the Greek
through the intervention of the Zend, and subsequent to the Macedonian inva-
s ion ! The Agathocles' coin ought to answer all such speculations. The Pali of
that day alone with its appropriate symbols is proved to have held the same
precise derivative relation to the Sanskrit as it does now — for the records on
which we argue are not modern, but of that very period. All we still want is to
find soma graven Brahmanical record of the same period to shew the character
then in use for writing Sanskrit ; and to add ocular demonstration to the proofs
afforded by the profound researches of philologists as to the genuine antiquity of the
venerable depository of the Vedas.§
A DISPUTATION RESPECTING CASTE BY A BUDDHIST.
One day my learned old Bauddha friend brought me a little tract in Sans-
krit, with such an evident air of pride and pleasure, that I immediately asked him
what it contained. " Oh, my friend !" was his reply, " I have long been trying to
procure for you this work, in the assurance that you must highly approve the wit
and wisdom contained in it ; and, after many applications to the owner, I have at
length obtained the loan of it for three or four days. But I cannot let you have it,
nor even a copy of it, such being the conditions on which I procured you a sight of
it.'1 These words of my old friend stimulated my curiosity, and with a few fair words
I engaged the old gentleman to lend me and my pandit his aid in making a trans-
lation of it ; a task which we accomplished within the limited period of my posses-
sion of the original, although my pandit (a Brahman of Benares) soon declined
co-operation with us, full of indignation at the author and his work ! Notwith-
* This is Csoma in No. 14 of Jour. Bengal As. Soc. But Wilson in the Hindu Drama
{ATotes on the Mrichhakatl) derives the Bihar dynasty from Andhra or Telingana.
§ If the Sanskrit literature be so old as alleged (tenth to fourteenth century b. c.) it
is most strange that we have no Brahmanical monument or inscription nearly so old as
the Buddhist Pali ones. The Rigveda Sanhita suggests at once that this cannot be
referred to ignorance, and may be referred to the Sabtean genius of primitive Hindu-
ism, which was averse to idols and temples.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 27
standing, however, the loss of the pandit's aid, I think I may venture to say that
the translation gives a fair representation of the matter of the original, and is not
altogether without some traces of its manner.
It consists of a shrewd and argumentative attack, by a Bauddha, upon the Brah-
manical doctrine of caste : and what adds to its pungency is, that, throughout,
the truth of the Brahmanical writings is assumed, and that the author's proofs
of the erroneousness of the doctrine of caste are all drawn from those writings.
lie possesses himself of the enemy's battery, and turns their own guns against
them. To an English reader this circumstance gives a puerile character to a
large portion of the treatise, owing to the enormous absurdity of the data from
which the author argues. His inferences, however, are almost always shrewdly
drawn, and we must remember that not he but his antagonists must be answerable
for the character of the data. To judge by the effect produced upon my Brahman
2>andit — a wise man in his generation, and accustomed for the last four years to
the examination of Bauddha literature — by this little treatise, it would seem that
there is no method of assailing Brahmanism comparable to that of "judging it out
of its own mouth :" and the resolution of the Committee of the Serampore College
to make a thorough knowledge of Hindu learning the basis of the education of
their destined young apostles of Christianity in India, would thence appear to be
most wise and politic. But to return to my little treatise.
We all know that the Brahmans scorn to consider the Siidras as of the same nature
with themselves, in tbis respect resembling the bigoted Christians of the dark ages,
who deemed in like manner of the Jews. The manner in which our author treats
this part of his subject is, in my judgment, admirable, and altogether worthy of
an European mind. Indeed it bears the closest resemblance to the style of argu-
ment used by Shakespeare in covertly assailing the analogous European prejudice
already adverted to. I need not point more particularly to the glorious passage
in the Merchant of Venice : u Hath not a Jew eyes, hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, passions ; fed with the same food, hurt by the same diseases ? " etc.
The Bauddha treatise commences in the sober manner of a title page to a book ;
but immediately after the author has announced himself with due pomp, he rushes
H in medias res," and to the end of his work maintains the animated style of viva
voce disputation. Who Ashu Ghosha, the author, was, when he flourished, and
where, I cannot ascertain. All that is known of him in Nepaul is, that he was
a Mahd pandit, or great sage, and wrote, besides the little treatise now translated,
two larger Bauddha works of high repute, the names of which are mentioned in a
uote.*
I, Ashu Ghosha, first invoking Manju Ghosha, the Guru of the world, with all
my soul and all my strength, proceed to compose the book called Vajra Suchi,f in
* The Buddha Charitra Kdvya, and the Nandi-Mukhasughoslia A vaddn-a, and other
works.
t Burnouf has said that the very term Vajra proves this to be a very recent work.
j28 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
accordance with the Shastras (Hindu or Brahmanical Sdstras).
Allow then that your Vedas and Smritis, and works involving both Dharma
and Artha, are good and valid, and that discourses at variance with them are invalid,
still what you say, that the Brahman is the highest of the four castes, cannot he
proved from those hooks.
Tell me, first of all, what is Brahmanhood ? Is it life, or parentage, or body,
or wisdom, or the ritual (dchdrd), or acts, i.e., morality {karma) or the Vedas?-
If you say it is life (jiva), such an assertion cannot be reconciled with the Vedas ;
for it is written in the Vedas that u the sun and the moon, Indra, and other deities,
were at first quadrupeds ; and some other deities were first animals and afterwards
became gods ; even the vilest of the vile (Swdpaka) have become gods." From these
words it is clear that Brahmanhood is not life (jiva), a position which is further
proved from these words of the Mahdbhdrata : " Seven hunters and ten deer,
of the hill of Kalinjal, a goose of the lake Manasarovara, and a chakwa of Sara-
dwipa, all these were born as Brahmans, in the Ktiruksketra (near Dehli), and
became very learned in the Vedas." It is also said by Manu, in his Dharma Sdstra,
" Whatever Brahman learned in the four Vedas, with their anga and iipanga, shall
take chanty from a Sudra, shall for twelve births be an ass, and for sixty births a
hog, and seventy births a dog." From these words it is clear that Brahmanhood is
not life ; for if it were, how could such things be ?
If, again, you say that Brahmanhood depends on parentage or birth (jdti); that
is, that to be a Brahman one must be born of Brahman parents, — this notion is at
variance with the known passage of the Smriti, that Achala Muni was born of an
elephant, and Kesa Pingala of an owl, and Agastya Muni from the Agasti flower, and
Kausika Muni from the Kusa grass; and Kapila from a monkey, and Gotama Rishi
from creeper that entwined a saul-tree, and Drona Acharya from an earthern pot,
and Taittiri Kishi from a partridge, and Parasu Rama from dust, and Sringa Rishi
from a deer, and Vyasa Muni from a fisherwoman, and Kausika Muni from a
female Sudra, and Viswamitra from a Chdnddlini, and Vasishtha Muni from a
strumpet. Not one of them had a Brahman mother, and yet all were notoriously
called Brahmans ; whence I infer, that the title is a distinction of popular origin,
and cannot be traced to parentage from Written authorities.
Should you again say, that whoever is born of a Brahman father or mother is a
Brahman, then the child of a slave even may become a Brahman ; a consequence
to which I have no objection, but which will not consort with your notions, I fancy.
Do you say, that he who is sprung of Brahman parents is a Brahman ? Still
I object that, since you must mean pure and true Brahmans, in such case the
But Weber in his new printed edition of it (original and translation) lias shewn that
the Vujra Suchi is at least a thousand years old, for in a work of Sankara acharya not
only is the term Vajra used, but strange to say, the first paragraph of his work is identi-
cal with one in the work before us, though of course differently intended as to scope
and purpose, Sankara only proposing to exalt his ideal of Brahmanhood by contrasting
it with the ordinary and actual types. But this shews what I have elsewhere re-
marked, viz. , that Saintism by its very genius and character (above ordinances) tends
to obliterate the distinctive marks of Brahmanism and Buddhism.
BUDDUIST PHILOSOPHY. 129
breed of Brahraans must be at an end ; since the fathers of the present race of
Brahmans are not, any of them, free from the suspicion of having wives, who
notoriously commit adultery with Sudras. Now, if the real father he a Siidra,
the son cannot be a Brahman, notwithstanding the Brahmanhood of his mother.
From all which I infer, that Brahmanhood is not truly derivable from birth ;
and I draw fresh proofs of this from the Mdnava Dharma, which affirms that the
Brahman who eats flesh loses instantly his rank; and also, that by selling wax, qx
salt, or milk, he becomes a Sddra in three days ; and further, that even such a Brah-
man as can fly like a bird, directly ceases to be a Brahman by meddling with the
fleshpots.
From all this is it not clear that Brahmanhood is not the same with birth ? since,
if that were the case, it could not be lost by any acts however degrading.
Knew you ever of a flying horse that by alighting on earth was turned into a pig ?
— !Tis impossible.
Say you that body (Sarira) is the Brahman? this too is false; for, if body be
the Brahman, then fire, when the Brahman's corpse is consumed by it, will be the
murderer of a Brahmin ; and such also will be every one of the Brahman's rela-
tives who consigned his body to the flames. Nor less will this other absurdity
follow, that every one born of a Brahman, though his mother were a Kshatriya or
Vaisya, would be a Brahman — being bone of the bone, and flesh of the flesh of
his father : a monstrosity, you will allow, that was never heard of. Again, are
not performing sacrifice, and causing others to perform it, reading and causing to
read, receiving and giving charity, and other holy acts, sprung from the body of
the Brahman?
Is then the virtue of all these destroyed by the destruction of the body of a
Brahman ? Surely not, according to your own principles ; and, if not, then Brah-
manhood cannot consist in body.
Say you that wisdom* constitutes the Brahman ? This too is incorrect. Why ?
Because, if it were true, many Sudras must have become Brahmans from the
great wisdom they acquired. I myself know many Sudras who are masters of
the four Vedas, and of philology, and of the M'undnsd, and Sdnk/iya, and JTaises/a'Jca
and Jyotishilca philosophies ; yet not one of them is or ever was called a Brahman-
It is clearly proved, then, that Brahmanhood consists not in wisdom or learning.
Then do ycu affirm that the Achdra is Brahmanhood ? This too is false; for if
it were true, man)' Sudras would become Brahmans ; since many Xats and JBhats,
and Kaicartas, and Bhands, and others, are everywhere to be seen performing the
severest and most laborious acts of piety. Yet not one of these, who are all so pre-
eminent in their Achdra, is ever called a Brahman : from which it is clear that
Achdra does not constitute the Brahman.
Say you that Karma makes the Brahman ? I answer, no ; for the argument
qsed above applies here -with even greater force, altogether annihilating the notion
that acts constitute the Brahman. Do you declare that by reading the Vedas a
* Perhaps it should rather be translated learning. The word in the original is jndna.
8
13O BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
man becomes a Brahman ? Tln3 is palpably false ; for it is notorious that the
Rdkshasa Ravan was deeply versed in all the four Vedas: and that, indeed, all
the Pdkshasas studied the Vedas in Ravan 's time : yet you do not say that one
of them thereby became a Brahman. It is therefore proved that no one becomes a
Brahman by reading the Vedas.
What then is this creature called a Brahman ? If neither reading the Vedas,
nor Sanskdra, nor parentage, nor race (Kula), nor acts (Karma), confers Brahman-
hood, what does or can? To my mind Brahmanhood is merely an immaculate
quality, like the snowy whiteness of the Kund flower. That which removes sin
is Brahmanhood. It consists of Vrata, and Tapas, and Ntyama, and Upavdsa, and
Dana, and Dama, and S/iama, anil Sanyama. It is written in the Vtdas that the
gods hold that man to be a Brahman who is free from intemperance and egotism ;
and from Sanga, and Parigraha, and Rdya, and Dwssha. Moreover, it is wiilten
in all the Sdslras that the signs of a Brahman are these, truth, penance, the com-
mand of the organs of sense, and mercy ; as those of a Chanddla are the vices
opposed to those virtues. Another mark of the Brahman is a scrupulous absti-
nence from sexual commerce, whether he be born a god, or a man, or a beast.
Yet further, Sukra Acharya has said, that the gods take no heed of caste, but deem
him to be the Brahman who is a good man, although he belong to the vilest class.
From all which I infer, that birth, and life, and body, and ■wisdom, and observance
of religious rites (dchdra), and acts (karma) are all of no avail towards becoming a
Brahman.
Then again, that opinion of your sect, that Pravrajyd is prohibited to the Siidra ;
and that lor him service and obedience paid to Brahmans are instead of pravrajyd,
— because, forsooth, in speaking of the four castes, the Sudra is mentioned last,
and is therefore the vilest, — is absurd; for if were correct, Indra would be made
out to be the lowest and meanest of beings, Indra being mentioned in the
Pdni Sutra after the dog, thus — " Shva, Hiva, Mayhava." In truth, the order in
which they are mentioned or written, cannot affect the relative rank and dignity
of the beings spoken of.
What ! is Parvati greater than Mahesa ? or are the teeth superior in dignity
to the lips, because we find the latter postponed to the former, for the mere sake
of euphony, in some grammar sentence ? Are the teeth older than the lips ; or
does your creed teach you to postpone Siva to his spouse? No; nor any more
is it true that the Sudra is vile, and the Brahman high and mighty, because we are
used to repeat the Chatur Varna in a particular order. And if this proposition
be untenable, your deduction from it, viz., that the vile Sudra must be co.tent to
regard his service and obedience to Brahmans as his onlv pravrajyd, falls likewise
to the ground.
Know further, that it is written in the Dharma Sdstra of Manu, that the Brah-
man who has drank the milk of a Sudrdni, or has been even breathed upon by a
Sudrdni, or has been born of such a female, is not restored to his rank by prd-
yaschitta. In the same work it is further asserted, that if any Brahman eat and
drink from the hands of a Sudrdni, he becomes in life a Sudra, and after death a
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. l$[
dog. Manu further says, that a Brahman who associates with female Sudras, or
keeps a Siidra concubine, shall be rejected by gods and ancestors, and after death
shall go to hell. From, all these assertions of the Mdnava Dharma, it is clear that
Brahmanhood is nothing indefeasibly attached to any race or breed, but is merely
a quality of good men. Further, it is written in the Sdstra of Manu, that many
Sudras became Brahmans by force of their piety ; for example, Kathina Muni,
who was born of the sacrificial flame produced by the friction of wood, became a
Brahman by dint of Tapas; and Vasishtha Muni, born of the courtezan Urvasi ;
and Vyasa Muni, born of a female of the fisherman's caste ; and Rishyasringa Muni,
born of a doe ; and Visvamitra, born of a Chdnddlni; and Narada Muni, born of
a female spirit-seller ; all these became Brahmans by virtue of their Tapas. Is
it not clear then that Brahmanhood depends not on birth ? It is also notorious
that he who has conquered himself is a Yati; that he who performs penance is
a Tapasyi ; and that he who observes the Brahma charya is a Brahman. It is clear
then that he whose life is pure, and his temper cheerful, is the true Brahman ; and
that lineage (Kula) has nothing to do with the matter. There are these slukaa
in the Mdnava Dharma, '• Goodness of disposition and purity are the best of all
things ; lineage is not alone deserving of respect. If the race be royal and virtue
ba wanting to it, it is contemptible and useless." Kathina Muni and Vyasa Muni,
and other sages, though born of Sudras, are famous among men as Brahmans ;
and many persons born in the lowest ranks have attained heaven by the practice
of uniform good conduct (sila). To say therefore that the Brahman is of one
particular race is idle and false.
Your doctrine, that the Brahman was produced from the mouth, the Kshatriya
from the arms, the Vaisya from the thighs, and the Sudra from the feet, cannot
be supported. Brahmans are not of one particular race. Many persons have
lived who belonged to the Kaicarta Kid, and the Rajaka Kid, and the Chanddla
Kill, and yet, while they existed in this world, performed the Chiidd Koran, and
Munja-bandhan, and Dant-kdshtha, and other acts appropriated to Brahmans, and
after their deaths became, and still are, famous under the name of Brahmans,
All that I have said about Brahmans you must know is equally applicable to
Kshatriyas; and that the doctrine of the four castes is altogether false. All men
are of one caste.
Wonderful! You affirm that all men proceeded from one, i.e., Brahma; how
then can there be a fourfold insuperable diversity among them ? If I have four
sons by one wife, the four sons, having one father and mother, must be all essentially
alike. Know too that distinctions of race among beings are broadly marked by dif-
ferences of conformation and organization : thus, the foot of the elephant is very-
different from that of the horse; that of the tiger unlike that of the deer; and so
of the rest : and by that single diagnosis we learn those animals belong to very dif-
ferent races. But I never heard that the foot of a Kshatriya was different from
that of a Brahman, or that of a Siidra. All men are formed alike, and are clearly
of one race. Further, the generative organs, the colour, the figure, the ordure,
the urine, the odour, and utterance, of the ox, the buffalo, the horse, the elephant,
132 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
the as9, the monkey, the goat, the sheep, etc., furnish clear diagnostics whereby to
separate these various races of animals: but in all those respects the Brahman re-
sembles the Kshatriya, and ia therefore of the same race or species with him.
I have instanced among quadrupeds the diversities which separate diverse genera.
I now proceed to give some more instances from among birds. Thus, the goose,
the dove, the parrot, the peacock, etc., are known to be different by their diversities
of figure, and colour, and plumage, and beak : but the Brahman, Kshatriya,
Vaisya, and Sudra are alike without and within. How then can we say they
are essentially distinct ? Again, among trees the Jlata, and Bakula, and Palds, and
Asoka, and Tamdl, and Naykesar, and Shirish, and Champa, and others, are
clearly contradis'inguished by their stems, and leaves, and flowers, and fruits,
and bark?, and timber, and seeds, and juices, and odours; but Brahmans, and Ksha-
triyas, and the rest, are alike in flesh, and skin, and blood, and bones, and figure,
and excrements, and mode of birth. It is surely then clear that they are of one
species or race.
Again, tell me, is a Brahman's sense of pleasure and pain different from that of
a Kshatriya ? Does not the one sustain life in the same way, and find death from
the same causes as the other ? Do they differ in intellectual faculties, in their
actions, or the objects of tho^e actions ; in the manner of their birth, or in their sub-
jection to fear and hope ? Not a whit. It is therefore clear that they are essen-
tially the same. In the Udumbara and Panasa trees the fruit is produced from
the branches, the stem, the joints, and the roots. Is one fruit therefore different
from another, so that we may call that produced from the top of the stem the
Brahman fruit, and that from the roots the Siidra fruit? Surely not. Nor can
men be of four distinct races, because they sprang from four different parts of one
bodv. You say that the Brahman was produced from the mouth ; whence was
the Brahmani produced? From the mouth likewise? Grant it — and then you
must marry the brother to the sister ! a pretty business indeed ! if such incest is to
have place in this world of ours, all distinctions of right and wrong must be ob-
literated.
This consequence, flowing inevitably from your doctrine that the Brahman
proceeded from the mouth, proves the falsity of that doctrine. The distinctions
between Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, are founded merely on the oK
servance of divers rites, and the practice of different professions ; as it clearly
proved by the conversation of Vaishampayana, ' Whom do you call a Brahman ;
and what are the signs of Brahmanhood ? ' Yaishani answered, ' The first sign of a
Brahman is, that he possesses long-suffering and the rest of the virtues, and never
is guilty of violence and wrong doing ; that he never eats flesh ; and never hurts
a sentient thing. The second sign is, that he never takes that which belongs to
another without the owner's consent, even though he find it in the road. The
third sign, that he masters all worldly affections and desires, and is absolutely
indifferent to earthly considerations. The fourth, that whether he is born a man, or
a god, or a beast, he never yields to sexual desires. The fifth, that he possesses the
following five pure qualities, truth, mercy, command of tho senses, universal bene-
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 33
volence, and penance.* Whoever possesses these five signs of Brahmanhood I
acknowledge to be a Brahman ; and, if he possess them not, he is a Siidra.
Brahmanhood depends not on race (KtdaJ, or birth (Jdti), nor on the perfor-
mance of certain ceremonies. If a Chdnddl is virtuous, and possesses the signs
above noted, he is a Brahman. Oh ! Yudhisthira, formerly in this world of oure
there was but one caste. The division into four castes originated with diversity
of rites and of avocations. All men were born of women in like manner.
All are subject to the same physical necessities, and have the same organs and
senses. But he whose conduct is uniformly good is a Brahman ; and if it be
otherwise he is a Siidra ; aye, lower than a Siidra. The Siidra who, on the other
hand, possesses these virtues is a Brahman.'
' Oh, Yudhisthira ! If a Siidra be superior to the allurements of the five senses,
to give him charity is a virtue that will be rewarded in heaven. Heed not his
caste ; but only mark his qualities. Whoever in this life ever does well, and is ever
ready to benefit others, spending his days and nights in good acts, such an one is
a Brahman; and whoever, relinquishing worldly ways, employs himself solely in the
acquisition of Moksha, such an one also is a Brahman ; and whoever refrains from
destruction of life, and from worldly affections, and evil acts and is free from
passion and backbiting, such an one also is a Brahman ; and whoso possesses Kshe-
ma, and Dayd, and Dama, and Dan, and Safya, and Sauchana, and Smriti, and
Ghrind, and Vidyd, and J'lj'ndn, etc., is a Brahman. Oh, Yudhisthira ! if a person
perform the Brahmacharya for one night, the merit of it is greater than that of a
thousand sacrifices (yajna). And whoso has read all the Vedas, and performed
all the Th-thas, and observed all the commands and prohibitions of the Sdstra, such
an one is a Brahman ! and whoso has never injured a sentient thing by act, word,
or thought, such a person shall instantly be absorbed (at his death) in Brahma.'
Such were the words of Vaishampayana. Oh, my friend, my design in the above
discourse is, that all ignorant Brahmans and others should acquire wisdom by
studying it, and take to the right way. Let them, if they approve it, heed it ;
and if they approve it not, let them neglect its admonitions.
OH THE EXTREME RESEMBLANCE THAT PREVAILS BETWEEN MANY OF THE
SYMBOLS OF BUDDHISM AND SATVTSM.
It is the purpose of the following paper to furnish to those who have means
and inclination to follow them out, a few hints relative to the extreme resemblance
that prevails between many of the symbols of Buddhism and Saivism. Having
resided myself some few years in a Bauddha country, I have had ample opportuni-
ties of noting this resemblance, and a perusal of the works of Crawfurd, of Raffles,
»nd of the Bombay Literary Society, has satisfied me that this curious similitude
* The word in the original is Tapas, which we are accustomed to translate ' ' pe-
■ance," and I have followed the usage, though "ascetism" would be a better word.
-The proud Tapasyl, whom the very gods regard with dread, never dreams of contrition
»»d repentance.
si
1 34 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
is not peculiar to the country wherein I abide. I observe that my countrymen,
to whom any degree of identity between faiths in general so opposite to each other
as Saivism and Buddhism, never seems to have occurred, have in their examina-
tions of the monuments of India and its Islands, proceeded upon the assump-
tion of an absolute incommunity between the types of the two religions as well as
between the things typified. This assumption has puzzled them not a little so often
as the evidence of their eyes has forced upon them the observation of images in
the closest juxta-position which their previous ideas nevertheless obliged them to
sunder as far apart as Brahmanism and Buddhism !
When in the country in which I reside, I observed images the most apparently
Saiva placed in the precincts of Saugata temples, I was at first inclined to consider
the circumstance as an incongruity arising out of an ignorant confusion of
the two creeds by the people of this country : but upon multiplying my obser-
vations such a resolution gave me no satisfaction ; these images often occupied the
very penetralia of Saugata temples ; and in the sequel I obtained sufficient
access to the conversation, and buoks of the Bauddhas to convince me that the
cause of the difficulty lay deeper than I had supposed.* The best informed of
the Bauddhas contemptuously rejected the notion of the images in question
being Saiva, and in the books of their own faith they pointed out the Bauddha
legends justifying and explaining their use of such, to me, doubtful symbols. Be-
sides, my access to the European works of which I have already spoken exhibited
to me the very same apparent anomaly existing in regions the most remote from
one another, and from that wherein I dwell. Indeed, whencesoever Bauddha
monuments, sculptural or architectural, had been drawn by European curiosity the
same dubious symbols were exhibited ; nor could my curiosity be at all appeased
by the assumption which I found employed to explain them. I shewed these monu-
ments to a well informed old Bauddha, and asked him what he thought of them,
particularly of the famous Tri-Murti image of the Cave temple of the West.
He recognised it as a genuine Bauddha image ! As he did many many others
declared by our writers to be Saiva! Of these matters you may perchance
hear hereafter, suffice it at present to say that I continued to interrogate my friend
as to whether he had ever visited the plains of India, and had there found any
remains of his faith. Yes, was the prompt reply, I made a pilgrimage to Gayah,
in my youth : I then asked him if he remembered what he had seen, and could
tell me. He replied that he had, at the time, put a few remarks on paper
which he had preserved, and would give me a copy of, if I desired it. I bade him
do so, and was presented with a paper of which the enclosed is a translation. Let
me add that never having veiled Gayah, I cannot say anything relative to the
accuracy of my friend's details, and that in regard to the topographical ones, there
are probably a few slight mistakes. I am aware that an accurate explanation
* Causes are not at present my game : but consider the easy temper of superstition :
the common origin of Bud ilrism and Brahmanism in India; the common tendency of
both Saivaism and Buddhism to asceticism, etc. Even Christianity adopted many of the
rites and emblems of classic paganism.
BUDDUIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 35
from the Bauddha books of the drawings that accompany my paper, would he
of more value than that paper. But, Sir, non omnia possumus omnes, and I
hope that a Bauddha comment on Brahmanical ignorance will he found to possess
some value, as a curiosity ; and some utility, for the hints it furnishes rela-
tive to the topic adverted to in this letter.
P.S. — Captain Dangerfield's five images in the cave at Bag, and which the
Brahmans told him were the five Pandits, are doubtless the " Fancha Buddha
Dhyani;" as is the Captain's "Charan," said to be that of Vishnu, the Charan
of Sakya Sinha; or that of Manju Ghosha. If it be the latter, it has an eye
engraved in the centre of each foot; if the former, it has the ashtmangal and
tahasra chakra.
Buddh Gayah, according to a Nepaulese Bauddha who visited it.
In Buddh Gayah there is a temple* of Maha Buddha in the interior of which
is enshrined the image of Sakya Sinha : before the image is a Chaitya of stone, close
to which are the images of three Lokeswaras, viz., Haiti hala Lokeswara, Ilari hari
hari vahana Lokeswara, and Amogha pasa Lokeswara.f This temple of Maha
Buddha, the Brahmans call the temple of Jagat Natha, and the image of Sakya
Sinha they denominate Maha Muni; J of the three Lok Natha, one they call Ma-
ha Deva, one Parvati, and the third their son. On the south side of the tem-
ple of Maha Buddha is a small stone temple in which are the images of the seven
Buddhas :§ and near to them on tbe left three other images, of Hala hala Lokes-
wara, Maitreya Bodhisatwa, and Dipankara Buddha. The Brahmans call six of
the seven Buddhas, the Pandiis and their bride, but know not what to make of the
seventh Buddha, or of the remaining three images.
* The word in the original is Kiitagar, and I understand that the temple of Maha
Buddha in the city of Patan, in this valley, is built after the model of the. Gayah
temple. If so, the latter is of the same general form with the Orissan Jagannath. The
Patau temple is divided in the interior into five stories. Sakya Sinha, the genius
loci, is enshrined in the centre of the first story ; Amitabha, the fourth Dhyani Buddha,
occupies the second story ; a small stone Chaitya, the third ; the Dharma Dhatu
mandal, the fourth ; and the Vajra Dhatu mandal, the fifth and highest story, and
the whole structure is crowned, on the outside, by a Chura Mani Chaitya.
t Hala hala Lokeswara, a form of Padma P;'uii, the fourth Dhyani Bodhisatwa,
and active creator and governor of the present system of nature. Three Dhyani Bodhi-
satwas preceded him in that office, and one remains to follow him.
+ This name is equivocal: the Brahmans mean 1 suppose, to designate by it the chief
of their own Munis. The Bauddhas recognise it as just, since the Tri-Kund Sesh, and
many of their scriptures give this name to Sakya Sinha.
§The Bauddha scriptures say that one form is common to all the seven great Man-
ushi Buddhas. The figure I have given of Sakya has the Bhumisparsa Mudra, or
right hand touching the earth. The Gayah image of him is said to have the Dhyan
Mudra for the position of the hands. That is, the two hands open and laid one on-
the other and both resting on the doubled thighs, the figure, sitting tailor-wise.
There is nothing improper in giving that Mudra to Sakya or other Manushi Buddhas,
but usually it is appropriated to Amitabha ; and almost all the images of Sakya that I
have seen are characterised by the Bhumi-sparsa Mudra, Sakya's image is generally
supported by lions, sometimes however by elephants, Sakya's appropriate colour is yel-
low or golden, which colour, like the other characteristics, belongs also to the remaining
six <n-eat Minushis.
I36 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
Upon the wall of the small temple containing the Sapta Buddha, and immediately
above their images is an image of Vajra Satwa,t one head, two hands, in the right
hand a Vajra, and in the left a bell, with the lock on the crown of the head,
twisted into a turban : the Brahmans call this image of Vajra Satwa Maha Brah-
ma. At the distance of fifteen yards, perhaps, east of the great temple of Maha
Buddha is another small temple in which is placed a circular slab having the print
of the feet of Sakya Sinha graven on it. The feet are known to be those of Sakya,
because the stone has the eight mangals,§ and the thousand-fold chakra upon it.
The Brahmans of Gayah call this Charan, the Charan of Vishnu, but they
are silent when the mangals and chakras are pointed out to them as decisive proofs
of their error.
Somewhat further (perhaps 150 yards) from the great temple of Maha Bud-
dha towards the east, is a Kund called Pani Hata, and at the eastern corner of
the well is the image of Maitreya Bodhisatwa.
The Kund is called Pani Hata because Sakya produced the spring of water
by striking his hand on the ground there. That water has eight peculiar quali-
ties. The Brahmans say that the Kund is Saraswati's, and insist that Maitreya's
image is the image of Saraswati. At a little distance to the north of the great
Maha Buddha temple are many small Chaityas,|| which the Brahmans call Siva
Lingas, and as such worship them, having broken off the Ckura Mani from each.*
Much astonished was I to find the great temple of my religion consecrated to
Brahman worship, and Brahmans ignorantly falling down before the Gods of my
fathers.
The purpose of my paper is to show that very many symbols, the most appa-
rently Saiva, are notwithstanding strictly and purely Bauddha; and that, there-
fore, in the examination of the antiquities of India and its islands, we need not vex
ourselves, because on the sites of old Saugata temples we find the very genius loci
arrayed with many of the apparent attributes of a Saiva God ; far less need we
infer from the presence, on such sites, of seemingly Saiva images and types, the
presence of actual Sivaism.
t Vajra Satwa is a Dhyani or celestial Buddha. There is a series of five celestial
Buddhas, to whom are assigned the five elements of matter, the five organs of human
sense, and the five respective objects of sensation. There is also a series of six Dhyani
Buddhas, which is composed of the above five, with the addition of Vajra Satwa, and
to him are ascribed intellectual force and the discrimination of good and evil. _
§ These are symbols of the Vitaragas, which are portions of the eight Bodhisatwas.
See N aipaiya Kalyana, in Jour. Ben. As. Society.
|| The Chaitya is the only proper temple of Buddhism, though many other temples have
been adopted by the Saugatas for enshrining their Dii Minores. In Nepaul, the Chaitya
is exclusively appropriated to five Dhyani Buddhas, whose images are placed in niches
around the base of the solid hemisphere which forms the most essential part of the
Chaitya. Almost every Nepaul Chaitya has its hemisphere surmounted by a cone or
pyramid called Chura Mani. The small and unadorned Chaitya might easily be taken
for a Linga. It was so mistaken by Mr. Crawfurd, etc.
* The like metamorphosis of the Chaitya into a Lingam and its worship as the latter,
may now be seen in numerous instances in Nepaul, e.g., at Kali's temple on the road
side near Tnndi Kh^l.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 37
Crawfurd, standing in the midst of hundreds of images of -Buddhas, on the plat-
form of a temple, the general form and structure of which irresistibly demon-
strated that it was consecrated to Saugatism, could yet allow certain appearances
of Sivaism to conduct him to the conclusion, that the presiding Deity of the
place was Hara himself! Nay, further, though he was persuaded that the an-
cient religion of the Javanese was Buddhism, yet having always found what he con-
ceived to be the unequivocal indices of the presidency of the Hindu destroyer,
in all the great Saugata temples, he came to the general conclusion, that " genuine
Buddhism " is no other than Sivaism. I thought when I had shewn no reliance
could be placed upon the inference from seemingly Saiva symbols to actual Siva-
ism, I had smoothed the way for the admission that those cave-temples of the
west of India, as well as those fine edifices at Java, whereat the majority of
indications both for number and weight prove Buddhism, are Bauddha and exclu-
sively Bauddha ; notwithstanding the presence of symbols and images occupying
the post of honour, which, strongly to the eye, but in fact, erroneously in these
cases, seem to imply Sivaism, or at least a coalition of the two faiths. For such
a coalition at any time and in any place, I have not seen one plausible argument ad-
duced; and as for the one ordinarily derived from the existence of supposed Saiva
images and emblems in and around Bauddha temples, it is both erroneous in
fact, and insufficient were it true. However probably borrowed from Sivaism,
these images and symbols became genuinely Bauddha by their adoption into Bud-
dhism— just as the statue of a Capitoline Jupiter became the very orthodox effi-
gy of St. Paul, because the Ilomanists chose to adopt the Pagan idol in an
orthodox sense. And were this explanation of the existence of seeming Sivaism
in sites which were beyond doubt consecrated to Buddhism, far less satisfactory
than it is, I would still say it is a thousand times more reasonable than the sup-
position of an identity or coalition* between two creeds, the speculative tenets of
which are wide asunder as heaven and earth, and the followers of which are
pretty well known to have been, so soon as Buddhism became important, furiously
opposed to each other.
Upon the whole, therefore, I deem it certain, as well that the types of Sivaism
and Buddhism are very frequently the same, as that the things typified are, always
more or less, and generally radically, different.
Of the aptness of our writers to infer Sivaism from apparently Saiva images
and emblems, I shall adduce a few striking instances from Crawfurd's second
volume, chap, i., on the ancient religion of the Islanders ; and to save time and
avoid odium, I speak rather to his engravings, than to his text; and shall merely
state matters, without arguing them.
Let me add, too, that Crawfurd's mistakes could not well have been avoided.
He had no access to the dead or living oracles of Buddhism, and reasoning only
* In regard to those cave-temples of the Western Continent of India, called mixed
Saiva and Bauddha, the best suggested solution is successive possession — but I believe
them to have been wholly Buddhist.
T
I38 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
from what he saw, reasonably inferred that images, the most apparently Saiva, were
really what they seemed to be ; and that Saiva images and emblems proved a
Saiva place of worship.
In his chapter already alluded to, there are several engravings. No. 27 is said
to be " a figure of Maha Deva as a devotee." It is, in fact, Sinha-Natha-Lokes-
wara. Plate 28 is called " a representation of Siva." It is, in fact, Lokeswara
Bkagawan or Padma Pani,§ in his character of creator and ruler of the present
system of nature. How Mr. Crawfurd could take it for Siva, I do not know, since
in the forehead is placed a tiny image of Amitabha Buddha, whose son Padma
Pani is feigned by the Bauddha mythologists, to be. Again, the principal per-
sonage in plate 21 is said to be "Siva in his car.'' It is, in truth, Nainuchi Mara,
(the Bauddha personification of the evil principle,) proceeding to interrupt the
Dhyan of Sakya Sinha ; and plate 22 gives a continuation of this exploit, exhi-
biting Sakya meditating, and the frustration of Namuchi's attempt by the oppo-
sition of force to force. || The whole legend is to be found in the Sambhu
purana.
The same work contains likewise the elucidation of plate 24, of which Mr. C.
could make nothing.
Of the remaining plates, and of the text of this chapter of Mr. C.'s, on other
subjects, very able work, it would be easy, but it would to me be wearisome,
to furnish the true explanation from the books or oral communications of the Baud-
dhas of Nepaul, to the more learned of whom the subjects of the plates in Mr,
C's book are perfectly familiar. One quotation from Mr. C.'s text, and I have done.
At p. 209, vol. ii., he observes : " The fact most worthy of attention, in respect
to the images of Buddha, is that they never appear in any of the great central
temples as the primary objects of worship, but in the smaller surrounding ones,
seeming themselves to represent votaries. They are not found as single images,
but always in numbers together,* seeming, in a word, to represent, not Deities
themselves, but sages worshipping Siva."
The whole secret of this marvel is, that the temples seen by Mr. C. were not gen-
uine Chaityas, but either composite Chaityas, or structures still less exclusively
appropriated to the Dii majores of Buddhism. The genuine Chaitya is a solid
structure exclusively appropriated to the Dhyani Buddhas, whose images are placed
in niches round the base of its hemisphere. Manushi Buddhas and Dhyani and
Manushi Bodhisatwas and Lokeswaras, with their Saktis, are placed in and around
various hollow temples, less sacred than the Chaityas.l These Bodhisatwas and
§ At Kurnagush (the ruins near Bhagulpur) there is a fine and perfect image of Fad-
ma Pani, with Amitabha in the forehead. The Pujari to me called it a Krishna,
and was astounded when he heard my explanation and whence derived.
|| See Jour. Amer. Ori. Soc, vol. ii., part ii, pp. 31-35, for another version of this
story.
* And why not ? for Buddha is a mere title : and though there are but six Dhyani
Buddhas, there are hundreds of M&nushis, which latter are constantly placed about
temples in vast numbers ; always as objects, though not, when so placed, special ones,
of worship.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 39
Lokeswaras never have the peculiar hair of the Budclhas, but, instead thereof, long-
braided locks like Siva; often also the sacred thread and other indications apt to be
set down as proofs, "strong as holy writ," of their being Brahmanical Deities.
Such indications, however, are delusive, and the instances of plates 27 and 28,
shew how Mr. 0. was misled by them.
By the way, Mr. C. is biassed by his theory to discover Sivaism, where it did
not and could not exist, of which propensity we have an odd instance (unless it
be an oversight or misprint) in p. 219 : for no one needs be told that Hari is
Vishnu, not Siva,§ and I may add that in adopting as Dii minores the Gods of
the Hindoo Pantheon, the Bauddhas have not, by any means, entirely confined
themselves to the Sectarian Deities of the Saivas.
P.S. — A theistic sect of Buddhas having been announced as discovered in Xe-
paul, it is presently inferred that this is a local peculiarity. Let us not be in too
great haste : Mr. Crawfurd's book (loco citato) affords a very fine engraving of
an image of Akshobhya, the first Dhyani, or Celestial Buddha, (see plate 29,) and
I have remarked generally that our engravings of Bauddha architecture and sculp-
ture, drawn from the Indian cave temples, from Java, etc., conform, in the mi-
nutest particulars, to the existing Saugata monuments of Nepaul — which monu-
ments prove here, (as at Java,) the Foreign and Indian origin of Buddhism, ani-
mals, implements, vehicles, dresses, being alien to Nepaul, and proper to India.
THE PRAVRAJYA VBATA OR INITIATORY RITES OF THE BUDDHISTS
ACCORDING TO THE PUJA KAND.
If any one desires to become a Bandya (monastic or proper Buddhist) he must
give notice thereof, not more than a month or less than four days, to his Guru, to
whom he must present paun, supdri, dakshind, and akshat, requesting the Guru to
give him the Pravrajya Vrata. The Guru, if he assent, must accept the offerings
and perform the Kalasi ptijd, which is as follows : The Guru takes a kalasi or ves-
sel full of water and puts into it a lotos made of gold or other precious metal, and
live confections, and five flowers, and five trees (small branches), and five drugs,
and five fragrant things, and five Brihi, and five Amrita, and five Ratna, and
five threads of as many diverse colours. Above the vessel he places rice, and
then makes pvjd to it. lie next seats the aspirant before the vessel in the
Vqjra dsan fashion and draws on the ground before the aspirant four mcmdafa or
circular diagrams, three of which are devoted to the Tri Ratna, and the fourth
to the officiating Guru. Then the aspirant repeats the following text : 'I salute
Buddhanath, Dharma, and Sangha, and entreat them to bestow the Pravrajija.
Vrata on me, wherefore I perform this rite to them and to my Guru, and present
X As for example, Sakya Sinha in the great temple of Gya, which is a Kutagar, and
wherein Sakya appears as the genius loci.
j See also pp. -J-J1--J, for a singular error into which apparently Mr. C's pursuit of his
theory could alone have led him. Flowers not offered by Hindoos to their Gods,
and therefore Buddha was a sage merely, and not a God!!
140 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
these offerings.' Reciting this text and holding five supdris in each hand,
the aspirant, with joined hands, begs the Guru to make him a Bandya. The
offerings above mentioned he gives to the Guru, and dakshind proportioned to
his means. This ceremony is called Gwdl Dan. On the next day the ceremony
above related is repeated, with the under-mentioned variations only. As in the
Gwdl Dan the Kalasi pujd and Demi pujd are performed, so here again : but the as-
pirant on the former
occasion is seated in the
Vajra dsan manner, in
this day's ceremony in
the Sustaka dsan. The
Sustaka dsan is thus :
first of all kits is spread
on the ground, and above
it, two unbaked bricks,
and above them the Su-
stakaismscvihed, thus -
\0^
?m^
upon which the aspirant
is seated. Then the as-
pirant is made Niranja-
na, that is, a light is kin-
dled and shown to him,
and some mantras re-
peated to him. Then
the Vajra Rdkshd is
performed, that is,
upon the aspirant's
head a Vijra is placed and the Guru reads some mantras. Next comes the cere-
mony of the Loha Rakska, that is, the Guru takes three iron padlocks, and places
one on the belly and the two others on the shoulders of the neophyte, repeating
some more mantras, the purport of which is an invocation of divine protection
from ill, on the head of the aspirant. This rite is followed by the Agni Rak-
sh4, that is, the Guru puts a cup of wine (surd-pdtra) on the head of the Chela
and utters some prayers over him.
Next is performed the Kalasi-Abhisheka or baptism ; that is, holy water from the
Kalasi is sprinkled by the Guru on the Chela's head and prayers repeated over
him ; after which, the Ndyaka Bandya or head of the Vihar (Abbot or Prior,)
comes and puts a silver ring on the finger of the aspirant. The Nayaka, or superior
aforesaid, then takes four seers of rice and milk mixed with flowers, and sprinkles
the wbole, at three times, on the aspirant's head. Next the Nayaka performs
the Vajra Raksha, and then makes pujd to the Guru Mandal before mentioned,
which ceremony completed, he rings a bell, and then sprinkles rice on the aspirant
and on the images of the Gods.
Then the aspirant, rising, pays his devotions to his Guru, and having presented
a small present and a plate of rice to him, and having received his blessing,
departs. This second day's ceremony is called Ddsala.
The third day's is denominated Pravra Vrata,* and is as follows : —
Early in the morning the following things, viz., the image of a Chaitya, those
of the Tri Ratna or Triad, the Prajna Paramita scripture, and other sacred
scriptures, a kalas, or water-pot filled with the articles before enumerated, a plat-
ter of curds, four other water-pots filled with water only, a Chivara and Newas, a
The monastic vows properly so called.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. I4I
Pinda patra and a Khikshari, a pair of wooden sandals,! a small mixed metal
plate spread over with pounded sandal wood, in which the image of the moon
is inscribed, a golden razor and a silver one, and lastly, a plate of dressed rice, are
collected, and the aspirant is seated in the Siistak Asan and made to perform wor-
ship to the Guru Mandala, and the Ckaitya, and the Tri Ratna and the Prajna
Paramita Sastra. Then the aspirant, kneeling with one knee on the ground with
joined hands, entreats the Guru to make him a Bandya, and to teach him what-
soever it is needful for him to know. The Guru answers, ' O ! disciple I if you
desire to perform the Pravrajya Vrata, first of all devote yourself to the worship
of the Chaitya and of the Tri Ratna ; you must observe the five precepts or Pan-
cha Siksha, the fastings and the vows prescribed ; you must hurt no living thing ;
nor amass property of any kind ; nor go near women ; nor speak or think evilly ;
nor touch any intoxicating liquors or drugs ; nor be proud of heart in consequence
of your observance of your religious and moral duties.'
Then the aspirant pledges himself thrice to observe the whole of the above
precepts ; upon which the Guru tells him, ' If while you live you will keep the
above rules, then will I make you a Bandya.' He assents, when the Guru, having
again given the three Rakshas above mentioned to the Chela, delivers a cloth
for the loins to him to put on. Then the Guru brings the aspirant out into
the court yard, and having seated him, touches his hair with rice and oil, and
gives those articles to a barber. The Guru next puts on the ground a little pulse
and desires the Chela to apply it to his own feet. Then the Guru gives the
Chela a cloth of four fingers' breadth and one cubit in length, woven with threads
of five colours, and which is especially manufactured for this purpose, to bind round
his head. Then he causes the aspirant to perform his ablutions ; after which he
makes piijd to the hands of the barber in the name of Viswakarma, and then causes
the barber to shave all the hair, save the forelock, off the aspirant's head. Then
the paternal or maternal aunt of the aspirant takes the vessel of mixed metal above
noted and collects the hair into it. The aspirant is now bathed again and his
nails pared ; when the above party puts the parings into the pot with the hair.
Another ablution of the aspirant follows, after which the aspirant is taken again
within, and seated. Then the Guru causes him to eat, and also sprinkles upon
him the Pancha Garbha, and says to him, ' Heretofore you have lived a house-
holder; have you a real desire to abandon that state and assume the state of a monk ?
The aspirant answers in the affirmative, when the Guru or Nayaka,* or maternal
uncle, cuts off with his own hand, the aspirant's forelock. Then the Guru puts
a tiara adorned with the images of the five Buddhas on his own head, and taking
+ These, with the. water-pot or Gahdhar and an umbrella constitute the equipments
of a Bauddha ascetic. The chivar and nivds are the upper and lower garments.
The pinda patra is the begging platter : khikshari, the appropriate baton or distinctive
staff (carried in the hand and surmounted by a model of a Chaitya). The Mani or
prayer-cylinder, which is so univei'sally in the hands of the Tibetan monks, is not in
use in Nepaul. The chivar andnivds are of a deep red color.
* Nayaka is Abbot, that is, head of the Religious House into which the neophyte
purposes to enter.
Tl
142 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
the kalas or water-pot, sprinkles the aspirant with holy water, repeating prayers
at the same time over him.
The neophyte is then again brought below, when four Nayakas or superiors of
proximate Viharas and the aspirant's Guru perform the Pancha Abhisheka, i.e.,
the Guru takes water from the kalas and pours it into a conch ; and then, ringing
a bell and repeating prayers, sprinkles the water from the conch on the aspirant's
head ; whilst the four Nayakas, taking water from the other four water-pots
named above, severally baptize the aspirant. The musicians present then strike
up, when the Nayakas and Guru invoke the following blessing on the neophyte :
' May you be happy as he who dwells in the hearts of all, who is the universal At-
man, the lord of all, the Buddha called Ratna Sambhava.' The aspirant is next
led by the Nayakas and Guru above stairs, and seated as before. He is then made
to perform pujd to the Guru Mandal and to sprinkle rice on the images of the Dei-
ties. The Guru next gives him the Chivara, andNivasa, and golden earrings, when
the aspirant thrice says to the Guru, ' 0 Guru, I, who am such an one, have
abandoned the state of a householder for this whole birth, and have become a monk.'
Upon which the aspirant's former name is relinquished and a new one given
him, such as Ananda Shali Putra, Kasyapa, Dharma Sri Mitra, Paramita Sagar.
Then the Guru causes him to perform pujd to the Tri Ratna, after having given him
a golden tiara, and repeated some prayers over him. The Guru then repeats the
following praises of the Tri Ratna: 'I salute that Buddha who is the lord of
the three worlds, whom Gods and men alike worship, who is apart from the world,
long-suffering, profound as the ocean, the quintessence of all good, the Dharma
Raja and Munmdra, the destroyer of desire and affection, and vice and darkness ;
who is void of avarice and lust, who is the ikon of wisdom. I ever invoke him,
placing my head on his feet.'
' I salute that Dharma, who is the Prajna Paramita, pointing out the way of
perfect tranquillity to all mortals, leading them into the paths of perfect wisdom ;
who, by the testimony of all the sages, produced or created all things ; who
is the mother of all the Bodhisatwas and Sravakas. I salute that Sangha, who
is Avalokiteswara and Maitreya, and Gagan Ganja, and Samanta Bhadra, and Vajra
Pani, and Manju Ghosha, and Sarvani varana Viskambhi, and Kshiti Garbha and
Kha Garbha. 't The aspirant then says to the Guru, ' I will devote my whole life
to the Tri Ratna, nor ever desert them.' Then the Guru gives him the Das
Siksha or ten precepts observed by all the Buddhas and Bhikshukas; and com-
mands his observance of them. They are : 1 . Thou shalt not destroy life ; 2. Thou
shalt not steal ; 3. Thou shalt not follow strange faiths ; 4. Thou shalt not lie ;
t These are nine Bodhisatwas, whereof the first, or Padma Pani, is now lord of the
ascendant, and as such constitutes the Sangha of the present cycle, and is therefore
associated to Buddha and Dharma of the triad as the third member of it. But there
is confusion of celestial and mortal Bodhisatwas, and so also in the general enumeration.
(See and compare pp. 95 and 96.) The Padma Pani here spoken of is probably Ava-
lokiteswara, who seems to be the same with Matsyendra Nath — a mortal clearly, and
therefore improperly identified with Padma Pani, a celestial. Of the rest all but four
or five are mortal Sanghas.
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 1 43
5. Thou slialt not touch intoxicating liquors or drugs ; 6. Thou shalt not be proud
of heart ; 7. Thou shalt avoid music, dancing, and all such idle toys ; 8. Thou
shalt not dress in fine clothes, nor use perfumes or ornaments ; 9. Thou shalt sit and
sleep in lowly places ; 10. Thou shalt not eat out of the prescribed hours.
The Guru then says, ' All these things the Buddhas avoided. You are now be-
come a Bhiksku and you must avoid them too ;' which said, the Guru obliterates
the Tri Ratna Mandala. Next, the aspirant asks from the Guru the Chi vara and
Nivasa, the Pinda Patra and Khikshari and Gandhar, equipments of a Bauddha as-
cetic : they are an upper and lower garb of special form, a begging platter, a
short staff surmounted by a Chaitya and a waterpot. Add thereto an umbrella
and sandals to complete it. The aspirant proceeds to make a Mandala and places
in it five flowers, and five Uruba-Kund, and some khil, and some rice, and as-
suming the Utkutak Asan, and joining his hands, he repeats the praises of the Tri
Ratna above cited, and then again requests his Guru to give him three suits of
the Chi vara and the like number of the Nivasa — one for occasions of ceremony,
as attending the palace, another for wearing at meals, and the third for ordi-
nary wear. He also requests from his Guru the like number of Gandhar or drinking
cups, of Pinda Patra, and of Khikshari. One entire suit of these the aspirant then
assumes, receiving them from the hands of the Guru, who, previously to giving
them, consecrates them by prayers. The aspirant then says, ' Now I have recei-
ved the Pravrajya Vrata, I will religiously observe the Sila-skandha the Samddhi-
skandha, the Prajnd-skcmdha, and the Vimuktiskandha.'1
Then the Guru gives him four sprinklings of holy water and presents him with
an umbrella having thirty-two radii. Next he sprinkles him once again and gives
him a pair of wooden sandals — after which the Guru draws on the ground linearly,
and near to each other, seven images of the lotos flower, upon each of which he
puts a swpdri, and then commands the aspirant to traverse them, placing a foot on
each as he proceeds. When the Chela has done so, the Guru placing the Pan-
cha Raksha Sastra on his head, sends him into the sanctum, where stands the
image of Sakya Sinha, to offer to it pdn, and supdri, and dakshind. All this the
Chela does, and likewise performs the Pancha Upacharya puja; when, having cir-
cumambulated the image, he returns to the Guru.
Then the Guru performs the ceremony called Shik Adhivasan, which is thus :
The ball of five-coloured thread mentioned in the first day's proceedings as being
deposited in the kalas, is taken out of the kalas and one end of it twisted thrice
round the neck of the kalas ; it is then unrolled and carried on to the Chela and
twined in like manner round the Khikshari he holds in his hands, whence it is con-
tinued unbroken to the Guru and delivered into his hands. The Guru holding the
clue in his hands, repeats prayers and then rolls up the thread and then redeposits
it in the kalas. He next performs the Pancha Upacharya puja to the kalas and
to the Khikshari ; next he gives flowers and a blessing to the aspirant ; next he
gives him the Abhisheka, invests his neck with a cord composed of a piece of
the thread just adverted to; places the Pancha Raksha Sastra on his head, and
144 BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY.
repeats over him some prayers. The Mandal is then obliterated, when the aspirant
is made to perform the Maha Bali ceremony, which is thus : —
In a large earthen vessel four seers of dressed rice, and a quarter of the quan-
tity of Bhatmas, and a noose and a mask faced like Bhairava,* having a small quan-
tity of flesh in the mouth of it, are placed ; and the aspirant makes puja to Bhairava,
presenting to the mask the Naived and a light, and pouring out water from a conch
he holds in his hands so that it shall fall into the vessel. The Guru repeats
mantras, and invoking the Devatas and Nagas, and Yakshas, and Rakshasas, and
Gandharvas, and Mahoragas, and mortals, and immortals (Amanushas), and Pre-
tas, and Pisachas, and Dakas, and Dakinis, and Matrika Grahas, and Apas Mar-
gas, and all motionless and moving things, he says, ' Accept this Bali and be
propitious to this aspirant, since the sacrifice has been performed according to the
directions of Vajra Sahva.1 Such is the Sarva Bhuta Bali. In like manner
the Balis of Maha Kala, and of the Graha, and of the Pancha Raksha, and of the
Graha Matrika, and of Ohand Maha Rakshana, and of the guardians of the four
quarters, and of Ekavinsati, and of Basundhara, and of the Chaitya, and of Pin-
di Karma, and of Amoghpasa, and of Sarak Dhara, and of Tara, and of He vajra,
and of Kurkulla, and of Vajra Krodha, and of Marichi, and of Ushnisha, and of
Hariti, are performed. Next the Balis denominated the Tyaga Bali, and the San-
kha Bali, are thus performed. In the conch are put flesh, and blood and spirits,
which are poured as before, into the great vessel, whilst the Deities of all the six
quarters are invoked with prayers. Then the Pancha Upachara puja is made
in the vessel, after which the aspirant is commanded to perform the Chakra puja,
which completed, he returns to his seat. The Chakra puja is that which is made
to all the images in the Vihara by going round to them all. The Guru then
causes the aspirant to perform the Guru Mandal puja and afterwards to sprinkle
rice on all the images, which done, the aspirant gives Dakshina to the Guru, and
the Guru, in return, gives the aspirant a small quantity of rice and a trifle of mo-
ney. Then the Guru causes him to perform the Des-Bali-Yatra, which is, the
aspirant removes the great earthen vessel with its contents, by means of carriers,
and distributes the contents in small quantities to all the shrines of Daityas,
and Pisachas, and other evil spirits throughout the city ; and having distributed
them, returns with the empty vessel.
Then the Guru and ten Nayakas take the aspirant to make the circuit of all
the shrines in the neighbourhood and to present at each, offerings of rice, and
pan, and supdri, and flowers ; after which tbey go to the Chela's home, when
his relatives come out and give him four seers of rice, and then conduct the aspi-
rant and the rest within and feed them with Mil or rice and milk. The Guru
then returns to the Vihara, and the Chela remains at home.§ Then the aspi-
* Thus far all is conducted according to the Tauranik exoteric and purely Buddhist
ritual : what follows is derived from the Tantrik esoteric, and not purely Buddhist ritual.
§ Here end the scriptural injunctions : what follows rests on customary authority only,
and has reference to the fact that in Nepaul the Buddhists have long since abandoned
the monastic restraints. Tonsure is the only mark of the old monastic habits still re-
BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY. 145
rant must, at all events, practise mendicity and the other rules of his order,
for four days : but if at the end of that time, he feel no serious call to the
monastic profession he must go to his Guru at the Vihara and to his Upa-
dhyaya, (the latter is his instructor in the forms of pii/i, according to the Puja
Kand) and addressing the Guru, must say, 'O Guru ! I cannot remain an ascetic,
pray take back the Chivara and other ensigns of monachism ; and, having deli-
vered me from the Sravaka Charya, teach me the Maha Yan Charya.' The Guru
replies, 'Truly, in these degenerate days to keep the Pravrajya Vrataishard;
adopt then the Maha Yan Charya. But if you abandon the Pravrajya, still yon
cannot be relieved from observing the following commandments: — Not to destroy
life. Not to steal. Not to commit adultery. Not to speak evilly. Not to take spiri-
tuous liquors and drugs. To be clement to all living beings. The observance
of the above rules shall be a pravrajya to you, and if you obey them, you shall
attain to Mukti.' The aspirant then washes the Guru's feet, and having done so,
returns to his seat, when the Guru having prepared the materials of piijd noted
in the first day's ceremonies, makes piijd to the Kalas, after which he makes piijd
to the vessel, holding the aspirant's shorn locks. He then draws Mandals for the
Tri Ratna and for himself, and makes the aspirant offer pujd to all four ; when
he obliterates the whole and says, ' You have abandoned the Bhiksku Charya and
adopted the Maha Yan Charya; attend to the obligations to the latter, as just ex-
plained to you.'
The badges of monachism are then taken from the aspirant by the Guru, who
gives him the Pancha Rakska as before related, and then sends him to make the
Chakra puja, which done, he causes him to perform the Guru Mandal puja, and
then to sprinkle rice on the Deities. Then the Guru Mandal is erased, the aspiraut
makes an offering to the Guru, and the Guru gives him his blessing. The Guru
then sends the aspirant to throw into the river the hair shaven from his head
and on his return makes the Agam puja and Kuinarf puja ; when the whole is con-
cluded by a feast.*
P.S. — Since the above papers were written, I have perused Mr. Tumour's essays
in the Bengal Asiatic Journal, and I fully admit (as anticipated by Mr. Prinsep )
that the honours of Ceylonese literature and of the Pali language are no longer
disputable. I may add in regard to the latter point, that recent research has esta-
blished the following very curious fact,w'z., that the Sanskrit Buddhist works dis-
covered by me in Nepaul, are now found to be copiously interspersed with pas-
sages in various Prakrits — Pali among the rest — pretty much in the manner of the
Hindoo Drama wherein this mixture of less finished dialects with the Sanskrit is of
common occurrence.
tainedby the Nepalese Bandyas, who are now divided into Vajra Acharyas, Bhikshukas,
Sakyavansikas, and Chivaha Bares.
* In the above Snivakcharya and Bhikshucharya are made equivalents, equally repre-
senting the strict rule opposed to Maha Yan charya as the designation of the lax rule
or that of the non-monastic many. This sense of the latter term is contrary to some au-
thorities. The Triyana are elsewhere speciiied as Pratyeka, Sravaka and Maha, but
in another sense a scripture of the highest class or that treats of transcendental
topics is called a Mahayana Sutra.
Comparative Vocabulary of the several Languages or Dialects of the Eastern Sub-Him&layas, from the Kdli or Gh6tjra, to the Dhansri, tvith the
written and spoken Tibetan for comparison, by B. H. Hodgson, Esq.
Buffalo
Mahi, S.
Cat
Byila S.
Cow
Bi
Crow
Kkita
Elephant
Father
Fire
Fowl
Fish
Flower
Foot
Goat
Hah-
Hand
Khyi
Nyi
Motog
rKamrpa
Ri
sKra, sPu
Lngpa
Khvirn
/Chops
Ldnii
Hod
Mother
Mountain
Mouth
Lhakpa
Lungbo
Lung
Thomi
Rhunrni
Kvoini
Da
m
m
ChyS
Jhi
Bhyi
ThHk
Thik
Tlyak
Koa. Syen
Thii
Drii. Td
Riikii
Riibi
Rutok
Mihe
Meshi, S.
Mahi
Simi
Bermo
PilH"
L"yd Khi Khi'
Amend Am chdk Navo
Si Si Sah
G6ng na Gdngni Gong do
Lornboche
Mik
P41a
Mentok
KiDgd
Phak-piJ
Rajo
Chhya
Hyoma
H'we. Eu
Khi
Sye-dongma
Langbd
Mik
A^i
Me
Jha
Gna
Mi'lirlok
GnyS
Mcotog
K:io^'l.-p
Lungd Lappa
Sagmat
Tokphyul
Chdng
Phd
Vi
Navar
Mahi
Aleu
Bik
Alok
Kazeu
Tyinmd
Abd
Chhya
IhVnm'm
Riiip. Eu
Ro
Tah
Khyim
Chya
Sydma. Daina
Mi'
Achom. A-chdm
Kalidk
Athiak. A-thiak
OV °"
Li
Bu
Makhi
Khouibe
Sayet
Sawet
Myong
Bit
Hetti, H.
Mik
Me
Wi
Gni
Langdiphe'
Menda
Thagi
Huk'laphe'
Thagek
O'n*
Fanjing
Lop
KahwS
Len
Kochu
NabS
Bakhi
flT'ding1 U-di'-ng~|
•^ = di' - mba ;
L Denwar, etc. J
Hathi
Mak
Upa. Opa
Mi
Wi
Moi
Chtikuphemaf
Ghora, II.
Khira
Phenja Phalam
Pella TJ'biva
O't. Thord U'lawa chimi
Yapmi. Yembecha Mana. Ddwachha
Sobi Heliwi
Lira La dima
Khi Khi
Dangma Zenddng
Min Ming
Mang kong
Abriang
no Sana'p
Toksdng
Mdri
Linijonkhi
On
. Uma
Xakhu
Mahi
Tawar
Mhe
Kiwi
Dmi'
Ningi
Nape
Tar nyi
Meudu
Bald
Thobo
Dhwi
Rhu
Ti
Dhim
PhSi
Lipte
U'jolo
Lam khutia. P.
Min
M6n
Chi gd
Jhango. Jhi-ngo
Khf.chi
Nbai pong
Kiel
Mi khi
Abu
Mi
Khi>
Nyi
Swong
Pali1
ChokS
PCBha"
Chhon
Phi "
Neku
Mya
Myi
Nemyi
Gwaji. g-wi-
Koh
Hyd
Plava
Ddngi
Mi*\ ft ros
Mii
RbaW, H.
Nawir
Sdthd
Myau
Minnirva
Nhet
Wg
Dini'
N« nisin
Nagyu
Chhyd
Nab.5
Na kyep
Sa. Nhe
Jhi
Na-ka
Tangna
Tih
Bkale.
Tlithi
Mik
Bai
Mho
Gwi
Dishd
Sir
Mihil
Rhi
Cliham
Na'
Pii
Phalim
Laple. Hau
Lau
Lhi
Jala
Bhla
Tyawongcho.
Mar
o.1 Mijang
Mhi
Bharmi
Mik
Baner, P.
) Tw6 mila. Tuyu 1
Lau-gni
Gyi hut
1
nula (
Phase
Rogmachi
B14
Ohivi. Chi-vi
ITsi
Biingi
Rjiehe
Mdeye, S.
Berrnd
Kbad
Nithi
Kuchdng
Nopha
Kha pi
Mi
Pii
Phd
Khwel
Chiirsye
Chang
Table. Gwl
Piyi
Pd
Guro
Ghora
Khi
Wd ak'li
Saphd
Rip llimgo
Moro
Li to si
Gun
Mhiitd
Pari
Chikang
Bandi, P.
Lam khutia, P.
* Tshmi, Chin, Ch<\ St:n, S!», A"i"i, A'ap, the radical words of the six first columns. In the ninth we have
C7ui,.void of suffix. The others have the suthxes or formative particles.
b Plio and mo, as post-fixes, for mas. et fcem.
■ Shd the cow j Ling, the bull. One = Bos, both sexes.
A Hik bang, hen ; Hik leu, cock ; Hxk Un, chick.
* Tngn, mas. Tayu, fcem.
r Clntkniphcma = arm flat ; so also Hid-lgphe of Limbu, and Langdaphe for foot is leg flat. There are no pro-
per words for hand or foot. The words for arm and leg are used with the sign of flat things (phe) suffixed.
So also in Limbu Hu^titphc, foot ; and Langtaphc, hand.
* Ba and Ma, used prcfixually. are the sex signs, and unchangeable
The occasional
tive signs, as in Pd-ld-ha = hand, from the root hi, with pa, the mark of flat things, and h6 the sign of
long things, create many differences more apparent than real, sine the n.i' or loglect of these additions is
to a great extent optioual, e.g. , pah ' f ,. ,t lias the pa sign only ; Hid 'hands and feet' has neither.
b Klui equals fowl in Takpa and Uraon, JEW in Chinese.
1 Mi-jang, vir. ; Mi-sd, niulier ; Mamo, lik.i ilaro, mankind ; and so Yapmi in Limbu, whilst l"e»t hi cha,
Menchima, are man and woman in that tongue.
J Pa, Ma, merely sexual adjuncts, mas. et foul., identical with the Pho mo and Pa ma elsewhere occurring.
k Compare On.hya, the Dhhnali word,
1 U is the pronominal definitive, as in Upa, Uma, Ukhura, Wtofora, etc., of the sequel.
•.*H, Hindi.— P, Paruatya.— S, Sanskrit.
Tibetan, written. Tibetan, tpoker
Plantain
River
Road
Salt
.Skin
Sky
Snake.
Star
Sun
T„.,r
Tooth
Troo
Village
Water
Lam
Tahi
Pngspa
Nam khah
iBnii
i Karma
rDo
Seven
Eight
Nino
Ten
Twenty
Thirty
Forty
Fifty
Bundled
in
To
(InalS
Changp»5
Chhd
Pig-pa
Nam
fjonshing
YOlteho
Chhri
Dova
Na
Khyod
, Kho
Na chag
Khyod chag
Khocbag
Nahi. Nayi
Klivodkyi
El '7:- Ehah:
VJadbtmA
K liynd cliaggi
Khochaggi
fOblg
yNyia
../S„„,
IZhi
Una
linik. r/Ru-k
(Dun
/>H lyud
rfGii
oClni. Thdmbd
Nvi shii
Sumchu
oZhibchii
Una hchii'
drOva thdmbd
Kyi.Oi. Hi. Yi.
La.Tu^Dii.Ka.Sii
Naa. Las.
By, inrtr. I Kyis. Ois. S.
Shingdong
Thdnjr
Chhu
Thomd
GnyS
Khd
Khu
Khenio
Khonjo
Gndyi
Khd yi
Kl^yi
Gndnjo yi
Khenjo yi
KhoDjo yi
Chik
Nvi
Zhvi
Qua
Thii
Dun
Qvd
Ouh
Chiih
Nyi ehii
Sum chii
Hip chii
Gimp chii
Hyung
Chhd
Kop-pa
Nam
Dnil
Karma
Dob
Nimo
Jik
Gni
Khyo
Khworing
Gniti
Khyo ti
Kbwoti
Nirdtf
Kliyeriti
Khworiti
Chik
Nvi
Sum
Zhyi
Gnd
Tiik
Oyd
Ouh
Chiih
Nyi shii
Slim elm
BhtUdni or
LhOpa.
Ohhu kyong
Chha
Pdko. Kompo
Nam
Sob
Shing
Kyong
Chhii
Kyu
Gni
Chhii
Kh6
Qnd chi
Khi cha
Khong
Ohhdgi
Kheugi
Gnu chdgi
Khou cbdgi
Khong gi
Wo-hong
OsSk
Khdsdvi
Nam
Keh'va
Hobo
Lepcha,
Kardiing La seh
Ongkyong Chua.
Laum Lam
Vom Yiim
Athiin. Kdnibd Horik. Saho
Ta liang
Beu
Sah6r
Sachak
Sathdng
Ar;hd
Kling
Go
Hau
Heu
Kayii. Ki
Hiyii
Hdyti
Kaseusu
Hadosa
Heusa
Kayii pongsa
Hayii pongsa
IToyii pongsa
Kit"
Nyet
Pha IP
Pha gndn0
Tarok'
Ka kyok'
Kakeii
Ka kyot
Kati
Gnak si
Hong-kii
Yiim
U'hdk bd
Nam cho
Pachdm
Sdngyen
Lung td
Kfwd
Qyd.GyathdmbMlyd
Hip chii
Onap chii
Khd
Ingd
Khdnd
Khiind
Anigd
Khdnih'
Khiinchi
Ingd in
Kheno in
Khiine in
Anigen in
Klienih' in
Khiinchi ir
Thit. Thi-t1
Nyetsh
Li ah
Gndsh
Tiiksh
Nush
Yet sh'
Phdng sh
Hi in).'. Thibong. Gip1
Ni bong (
Slim hong, 3 tens c
Li gip_, 4 tens c
Khe pheddngeiim KhanvetsakdtiGna gip, 5 tens c
Khd gnd Khd pha gndn Thi bong gip, one c
Gi. Yd Sa Le. In [10+101
L<S Kd. Rem Mo. Nin c
Nald. Ld child Nan. Liang4 Nu. Manii ]
A'nka
Khand
Moko
Ankan
Khananin
Moko chi
Ang ko
Am ko
M6so
A'in ko
Myaucho. Moyo
Ektai. £Tai'
Uaaat
Tiikya
GhySm
Chdchd
Dfbhf
Mil
Pukuri
Karcbin
Yiimbd
Dili
Swd
Dhong
Kvrf'
Tdmd
Gnd
Ai
Thd
Them
GnS Id
Aild
Thd IS
soThennd
Chdgii
Simd
Dd. Gang, S.
Lau. Ld
Chha
Wo
Ji ping
Chha ping
Wo ping
Jih gu mha
Chhang gu
Wily'll LTll
Jiping "giS
Ch Imping g
Wuping gu
Ghrik. ^Ri-k Chhi'
Gni. j>Ni
Sdn
Pi"
Nvi eho. Khechik Khakdt
Khe phddani Khakdtsa kati
Kha nydt
ReyS = /Tibet
Phdngyd
Kip
Prd = brlib,
Kiih
Chiwai
Nhi ehii
Gnd
Khii
Nhe
Cbyd
Giin
Sdnho
Sang sdnho. Nief
Bokal cha shii Ni sdnho. Siiyd
Bokal nhi Su sdnho. Pi-yd
Bokal ni shii chii Pi sdnho. Gnidye
Eala
Khwdng
Kydn
Chdchd
Dhi
Tundi. Miin
Bhiigiiri
PfrS. Tdrgya
Dhini
Chdn
Sak"
Sindd
Ndsa
Kyii
Taya
Gnd
Kdn
Thi"
Gni mo
Kdn mo
Thi" mo
Gni IS
Kdnld
Thild
Gni molo
Kerne molo
Thnmdla
Kri. *Ri
Ni
Mocha
Khold
Ohd
Chdla
Sarang
Bui
Bhiiga
Lhiing
Ndm khdn
Di
Ndmi
Gnd
Ndng
Hos
Kan kiirik
Ndng kiirlll
Hos kiirik
Gnou
Ndwo
Ho chii
Kan kiirikiim
Nang kiiiikum
A kiirikiini
Kdt"
Kiisyul
Stiniiigi
Soru
Phunglu
Hari
Gov ki
Gaiv ki
Hurdv ki
Ilun-d kr. Mt'rok.i
Nis. Limbu, £
Pv«. »Rd
Kuh
Chuh
Kuti
tartt
Bokal gnd Gun sdnho. Sat chi caret
Ld Yd Yd. Ld. B6
Bu-li' Ld
d. Ba-gnd Ond
Riik
Chan
Yoh
Glib
Wdjd
Klidk ndshi
Khdk lnshisasika
Swaikd
Kwd. Kyd
{ElmcLLlloi
vowol
"A.Vi/ft Chu = 5 tens, and so of 20, 30, 40, which also give the radicals of the decimal scale, and show how
scrvili'S lire always drupt ill eolnjiouuds. See and compare all.
1 I'omi.iire ^1-^-11, lluniii-se To, with the neuter sign f.-u ~ Ne.wari ept, G vet K, final of Tibetan ; Serpa and
So also is initial ka of Leneha 7 to 10. In Newdri the numeral adjuncts :
The varied position and optional
variable. Hie ft heec, hma ; hoc, /fit, sufftxed as in the other iiualitivi
use of these luMendu . rente iimeh Isise semblance of diversity.
0 Pfta pre-lixed here, like sh post-fixed in the Linibii columns, is not radical. Pha is equal to the silent b of
mitten Tibetan. B*KB&, in the Magar column, are equivalent to the Lepcha Pha, that is, pre-fixed
" '1 the Gurung columns. The mutation throughout is very instructive:
1 Limbu gip = Kiranti hip, got from 40, jnst as Gyarungp^ for four got from plisi 40. Bong equals Oip.
B Corruption merely of Suryi.
bSma mas. et foem. ; f?u neuter. Jihma, myself ; Jigu, my goods. Hma and gii are affixed to every quali*
tive whatever. See note ' voce long.
1 Anuswar merely, and for instr. and abb alike : also yaken, whieh likewise expresses, with, or sulh of
Urdu ; the Latin c
I Chinese ^ll tau, equals first, a verb to s
, second a prep, to (going to.)
Comparative Vocabulary of the languages of Hor Sokyeul and Sifdn, by B. H. Hodgson, Esq.
Crow
|lr.y
Dog
phyli
ripat
gwaA ("bull zyah)
■
Hog
1 1 . , [.
Bono
Homo
Iron
Loaf
Man
Monkey
MmIIht
Mountain
Mouth
Mo rliito
Night
Oil
Skill
Sl.v
SSipa.
salki
khord-khwd
w? li me
tliii-k.il
khoro-gwd
sakorsu
1.1. [iliun!
Eyo
Father
jiikd
tsall
hompa I kachu
BTODfl ( of head
lipa/i
si-m(
sa-lo
khdrd
nh6khw«
khikhd
V. OUTO-ll
llidbochd
Illltil
I'cliild
kwil
kbdld
chiehlik
kkdil
spvaA
,l/'i, Mi
'maA
aaliil
ehingyii
snrnii
clu.braA
griA
choA
rapl
niuhto
brigi
ghada
liar
tholfr-gwd
kbu-krU)
yd-bour
pa-syiiug
tlniniar
n«
Kluin
nidehi
ikbi, vkhi
tavli
khd-khwd
caret
wnssii, um'i
1',,
tkdug-grd
thold
r pvd-pyd
tabrii, small
chitun
ki-tan
eyAng
bing-ckhen
yen-chin
tai-inyejk
tam-inyek
dbii-dd
ak-kkfi
ti-mi
kkwA
ckii-ngyo*
chva a
ta-mi
cliukii
kiis-sd
thou pbwA
tar-nf
s>yu, sy.-w
tbau '
la-yak
gra
reVrS
chulaA
nisumdS
kale'
nyfi-le*
kataA
ckhej
split
y«5-cha
khouch
vtilii'iiiLr
ma
Mm. syan
khelo
> eu<S, yii
mAcbouker
phi-eha
tui-niek
caret
lir-mf
aheVprfj ti
t<''-tii, inng-mor
chin- I mustard seed
biilaA
epho
ri/irap
£.
spha
marnak
che/i
chhiA
rdspa
khalum
lang-chhdn
mdldng
) gi'.k-ti
pka
lekk
pholi
kyaniar
lam rep
merdaA
ba-raA
nia(rili,bow)
ha
shaA
g"
dingmi
mac he u
wonii (gnazi,
kali [bull.)
niui (tsi of
lap-che'A
phi
nipchtA
wiiA
chboA
ruivahdh
lhe'A
ami
"'hi
kwakaA
ichira, itira
phri
egre"
phvekh(hard)
naiudung
Mi. undmeomti thus, h, mirks the abn.pt accent
i, .i V .i->j. ii, limr nf iiiuuth <>r moustache. PA-spu, hair of body
; lint loi tin- iin.iliyv of the rforpa plural in 'ui,' I should say these were gi-nitives an
genitives and possessives, and that
t Sdkpaond ku of '■
s of pMMSBlVH turned by adding tha snffix 'young* to the personals has been
alleged to me, but it (a m rawly ued, 1 doubt it* genuiiieneaa. Here it is Gnayong Tel Guong, Nayong
I posyoug, Yoyong, Nyoyong, Yaposyong,
the plurals
■ .1. [a I MTVi
|| A disjuti :
Ttat
T,..,th
Mine
Thiao
Hia, hers, ita
Our's
Nino
Ten
Twenty
Thirty
Forty
Fifty
Hundred
Of
To
Bv, in8tru.
Witt, cum
Without, sir
In, on
Now
k6td
hri-thou
rd-thou
kwa, kwd
kwiin-tfi-cka
chiiklar child, pi.
kweuiko, kwa-
nik-lar
taho, thak-lar
kak chi
kwek chi
tkakchi,kwanak-
clii
kwiiuikiik
tbakiik
ward
khatard
staid
khrard
'giiro
luduXJ
pninaso
kahyaso
ghviso
mi, bi, a'bii j.
thSt t
nunit (
chhinil
tln'mil
caret
ndgo
hdyiir
kdrbfi
tirba
thabfl
chorka
tdld
ndma
arbi
hdrd
k.ichh^n
tdcbd
shnchd
chov6
twang-cha
i shiii
yangsii
thamd
shi*
wo-khyii, tuk-
ticki [hyii
gnli, gna-yo
gufi-pos, watii
nyo i
yapoe[pre8x|| '
gui\, conjunct (
1:1, the .-.nil- i
td 6 lephe
wfiA phwiA
ehOng dODg eapuA
yii liii
chhi dyAA
kh>' zgwM
(rn6, ny5 A
gnani.guAnggi
or rigya
ps, be
gua-rA
ii-iiggi i-rA
•ji-riggi pe-rA
(elonga- giieku
in'mdur
thfdtSr
thAti
giiom^ti
nitneti
thAnieti
i-ku, i
liang-ku, ai?
Bf-ku, si'
wti-ku.wu
leuku, leu
chhi-ku,chhi 1
pa-ku, pA c
iab'-sa[chyu t
ku-UL'a'*
ka-di
ImnjMjno"
,,u6
kiingiim
pary^
k, to, g^
tti
stiUo. hatiis
enzyu
cho,kuzga,cbak8i
hAto, thiizga,
tano [thaksi.
tikh
li
khAngchben
nidma, meyii
In [m&
chhA y&
la khun
na kbdn
chin th.5
lb]
puz-diii
tis-duf [tra
this-diii, kwuo-
TjyAa
gnAArfgya
rhiijo
BgA
'hyA
i.W
giP da
iiuiiMi, ffha
khA, wu
achfl
mnchii
nA, no, chA
hnbdeu
tahdeu
peku
mi mi lui
prrAkii
Adlll-f
n-.nduri
thidiui
thyertha
Ui6
lAm<3
Irk 11
syAng thou
iirky^
udu
oiitbu
chha
a tirmi-targi-.
llfing
nogor
dAng
wo cho
wo tho
gft, gAhA
tiiibi
slcwibf
zibi
mibl
tin iliilii
n Arh A hi
eA cliA bi
gnA zAhi
(
tha, ni
Id
phAe
inAju
lilni, cnoA
mil6
thilfl
nlnkhfl
yAhA
kbopd, dait
thtingol pujkw*"
khadu [nait
" In compoMtion these nnmes of the nunu-rala are liable to variation, as tirnii-tari;!-, one man ; tinnf-tage, two
men ; but three men is tirmi-kaaam, unchanged.
ft Ka, prefix, varj-ing to ku, and taking a nasal or other euphonic avpendage, ku-ng, ks-sh, i« servile. It li
the Common and almost inseparaUe adjunct of nouns, vert>\ <te., ami it interchangea with ta. Some-
times both are used. Compare ta-p-% a father, with ka-p'i, Ka'-sia, and Ta-gapuen, Tamil, all .
§J No declensional signs as the general rule ; but Ora hit been obtained as an anornalou* exception of very
special and narrow use, as L4ma-iim-boroh, the Lama's horse.
k«51
Below
Between "-''
Will,-. ill, uutHiili-khiii
Within, inside- ki'ki
t6io
tlul
Fur
Near
Little
Much
How muobP
Ah, rel
So, eomli
TllMH. DOM,
Howf
Whyf
brobo
etibj
cbou [chat
nikanjii mka-
Img4
t'Hinc- dd
gachi
total
kfaolfl
jh6H r.
ti.-ri Cg
in ohhin yftbi to" syu
Caret ah men
yenichhin thi mei
caret thi ma
tharichhiii
gnowa, goo hi
mangwa, mftng hi ni
lithii
kvuku
pneu-80
nang
t bdt ka, 1
phil ka
neng£
riDffblS
thungbii
lull, llllll
puthi kd
pichhd
Or g
Thifl el
Thai tl
Which, who, jon
Which, wlio, ton
Whlch.whojkoirf
Wbfttf kya ta
Anything n
Anybody n
(i I n.
Bad g
Gold st
Hot fii
Ripe m
thft:
thei
kn m
igwan edng-
liikou hiidi
„ hi nid caret
„ la m6 caret
„ syacha, hima thii
„ hiong . tenzi, tizzi
„ ohki, hiong eii
hhfing bejio botikhou. houti kasne*
hou ti myii
I.I: ■ . 1 1, L
reT-di
gaye" gnor
gaye" nytSr
liavandriijtaraisbta kiirkd
uyiiphtl
i-sman
Bitter
Handaomo
Ugly
Straight
( Iniuked
Black
Whito
payokh
hi Ion
bfil ckhen
chink the"
am the* th<5
ammahalon la-ti kiich-chur
„ [(goodjkhu-ti kuch-cbe*A
chang bend houti (good) kurn-chur
imUivii" (hml)hunti inyu(bad)ma-kumchhur
• „ ting-di ka-kas'lo
„ ting-di myu ma-kas'to
„ khidi ka-nak'
chhagan pi-di kaprom'
che che" gromo
nnmalum;
thu-thu
•gus-go
"nesne*
kam-syiir
choso
machoso
nyok-pa
tameh
trinini
thuzyo [mob
thusu, tmisit,
ban us moh
haniild
tfika
deundaA
demami
debi
khak-bd da-kha
lihiimi. gnouiiind phyiin phii
lihiimani. gnoma mam phyu
trang bo [-mano chu chu
kyok po kho kbo
nak po diina
kherii dallii
' These are the positive and negative forms of the substantive verb = the Persian hast, nest, exactly.
t Bi, an in-fix, medial ; ma, pre-tix.
J Horizontal and perpendicular hetweenity. *" Initial and medial.
§ In all these tongue* there is a special and general terra, indicated by the Latin appendage.
■H-Qumret In* hu, come not, in Kalmak.
*t L ■ pre-fix o( all th* »bo« worde ia the Mm* as that added to the numerals (See note at " ten.") To
Thorhu.
shidxi
zyangkii
d'rithu
wongchitha
bratliii
kthatba
brfttai tha
khd kho lig-di
tir tbii thang-ti
uu diir kou-ti
„ ti-ti
leu
Round
S-juave
pwi
tha
Wake friron (g
Weep arzan (
lie silent r>gii*tan
Speak kwor, ki
Come hai
(in, depart dakan
Stand up toron
Sit down ajon
Move, walk dakan
Run
kuht
eang-di.yaiiL'kalarlarlt
pyang-di [-di zhirdo
5 liou-ti (good) kwipau
Byou-ti(8mall)kwicbem
sphwa leu disduk
khang-ti taskom'
Ti-ti. wii-ti toiuos
thye", khyfi ta-zo
khwa ta-uiot
(il» ma h..p-
caret [chili
ire"
yabii?+t
Bbiihrin
qufipotbo
ka-piin. papii»||
yeyen, da-chii
nanijongsi
wtitbi
giirgyuu
tarven
kho khd
>iakal)ni
yA-giiz)
uap-shdA, tayin
changii chuginda
pingbo shAsha
tlionypo dridra
sugnng lira lira
nig tlniiig dridra
cliiingbo. pru yd
thtfnbo kah kah
hirhi wiiA w&h
tiip-zlii drazo
gyiik pa dnehuA
kaiLirhrtiig kari
„ na brfda
id gnajeu
lang(get up)dougwAA
t.i-.-lu
thdinft
syo
dangwA
thathadyii
thadyu
kbanj^h
Take
Strike
Kill
Bring
I.ll'l lip
I'ut du\
dag-h(cuivis.)§i
kwdgah (mihi;
jadjh (
da-gatcb (
dzi-la (
' ta-chi
Hear kokshust
Understand akhchan
Tell, relate kiirr
rabwo
i la-le
la-chhd
i tashin ga
tamgyo ps
td-khyii (cuivifl) w
» tu-khong unihi) w
gwrmkbe. tdahthit y:i. Vj h'mga dangn
zbi
sam tenchd
ta-yiu. uap-e
tachimoyu
Wfl-khi, ta-
dati-tlifi
na-sya
trulhd
khabd n(
thai-ilyu
e verbs the analogous prefix ta vel da is usually added. But ka is aho used with rerba, e.g.t Jong = it is,
is, in Bodo (Du of Newari and Tibetan du-g) is ku-m-dong in Gyiiniug.
|| Ka prefix becomes pa, according to that alliterative principle which prevails so greatly, though invgularly.
g§ Be, Ya, have a special sense. Give to me: take from me. Bin, Ling, a general tense. One solicit* ; the
tier commands.
With, cum. latin I
Snth in Hindi 1
find Urdu
Without,
Chi Da. Chdro So. Tyol
I.a. Ka
Now
Then
WhunP
T..-ilav
To-
Hero
There
Whero P
Above
Below
Jll [WITH
Without, ou
Within
Far
Near
l.iltlo
Much
How much P
Why P
Yea
Or
This
That
Which, ivl.
Which, corr
Which?
WhatP
Who?
Auy thing
Any body
Eat!
I) rink!
Sleep
Wake
Dengtsi'>.lla.l-I>:ng
Detail
Qang tat. Nam.
During
Sang. Tbolv
Hndma
Ilena
La
Thindi
Thi dwi
Kha dwi
Thiriug
Sing
Hacko
Kh/icho
Taring
Thoraug
Dang
Kaui
Bar, du
Phyi, rohua
N6. Nt6
Ring
Nydng
Mang. Tunio.
Tsatn. T-.'iniv
HadiStaug
Tong. Ch6. Yogi Tying
Wfj. Syd. Magi Wag
Par
Dharing
Nabah
Khachd
DIM
Phate-
Kind t<5
Ten kha. Ting
Wdh
P.ini
Phi
Bhar
Chi
Tharing
Thani
Niguva
Ma gda
Kbit ebwe
Khindi
Thendi
Dinda
KhachO.Khinda Kaudo. Kdnda Kite bt5
Liili
Alim. Aba
Pil. Woba Ni
Saba. Sabi Atfing
Atiin. Tal. ApldngTknng
I Achtim I Md
| Cheul.Sadain
Abik. Ackdk
Menne
( Mo. khep mo.
) kiithung tho
Alo
Khem pha 1*5
A'pbi fe
Ain
Tandik
Mebma
Kdtuii
Ning Ning
Rinrbo Thi ring
Thak ninibo ThA ni
Chayak chik Nvdng bo
A'li Mang bu
Kajd Kijeu
Kindd KatC
PhindiS O'M
DindS 0'de\ Do
Sii. Kha.
Chizhig
Sii/liiu'. Kbachig
Kha in
I'd
Men
Mil
Yang
Mo
Di
Phi-di
Thiuda?
The
Kkangi
Khang
tO ad
Thing
NyiS
King
In
Men
Ma
Dang. Ang
Diraug
I'lii dinniL'
Swin?
Thi dang
Swin
Kbing
Sii
Khai nang
Sui nang
S.".. S,i
Thiing
Nyol
Gwet
Sarong
Maram
Athol
Ag yap
Satet
Salom
Olom
Salom
Shii mat
Tup. In
M<5 tup. Men
Mi
D«
Yang. Mo
Di. Didi
Phe. Pbedi
Kadi ?
U'di
Kadi
Kang cbi. Kan
Ka
Ktindochi Shdri. Tham
Kaye". Ka imclii Tola
Sah Z6. Tha
Thdng Thong
NyS D4
Lhdng Si
G& Then
Ware
Sare
Shii
To
Kulnm
Bahar
Kiisi gang. Hong
MSnkio
Neng dang
Miaa
A'khen
Aphi dong ba
Khem pha ib tug ba
Kon pha dong ba
A*pha
| 'l'lv? ang 1
n'h.'- joknia I
| Thd yambdkle |
O'k
Men. Ni
Ang
Bi
Kon
Khen
A'tiP
Khen
Th<S
ThS
Hat
ThJ re
Hat lo
OhiS
Thung r
Hande
Khwomlo
Denrkke
Ai
Mang koleng
Akhomang
Wada
Miyanu
Kh&d&nii
Madhani
Mdyuni
Udiiug yi
Ukung yil
Nekti
Chichi
Badho
Do m<5ye
Kbain siiko
Khoin suko
Worn auko
A'inedko
Kharnso
Kho
Kha. Ko
Di. De
Di
Dimin
Cho
Imsac
caret. Poka.
I'ya. Iaa
Tili
■lyase _
Toying
Moyang
Gungari
Mang gyer
Tiin^ gycr
Tharing
Jyat na
U'clit
Lhini
Gade
Khiju
Waapa
Chdapi
Khatpa
Thi
Yen. Den.
Wi
Chun
Ho chan
Khi chui?
Ho chui
Khi chui?
Tigi
Khi
Tigi
Khi lii
Gniing
Nyet
Yiken. Nipo
De. Deyc
L6 thing. Khita
Nub
Madara kang
AreayS
Mimdle
Mabithu
E'. Ted
Ri
Yang. Ang
Mi
A'
TassO
Chamliu
I'chi
Wala
Chok l#ne
Arnan
Meni
Khar mo
Syen
GiSnd
Thawon
Tini
dhini
Mun liti
Ka nhai
Nhi gi
Pviingrrra
D(a"
Mhigo
Tela
Trsyeugmi
Siniti
Thuke
Churi
Ilak
Watha
Uke
Ky.iri
Alak
Yei',5
Giilthe
Khaniri
Kiilak
Dfttha. Oe-tho
Cbo
Tdnri
Iihcnam
Ri
Ko
Munri
Mhika
Yu
Dathii
Khionri
Mi khiing
Datd
Pine
Hdjcri
Bihar
liihir
Diino
Nhori
Bhitar
A'gi
Tipi
Rh.iu6
L6a
Onani
Satti
Kendo
Khwcp
Nethi
Bhati
Chigi de
Chckii
Ieki
Apa
Lhoy6
Hhcr
Itch ki
Guli
Kii to
Kudit
Oisi
Gatbing
ICliaga liyon
Hucuuga liyon
Chuga liyon
Kutling cha
DOdiv
Atbing
Ading cha
MmUv
Tha thing
I'ding cha
AJtko
Gathe. 06.
Khaga b'yon
Kuding cha
Dodiv
Chhl
Ta
Kiitta
Mara
Kbau. Da Ang
. W6I
Ho. Le Au
Mai
J Ma Khii. \
A'ni
Mflo
Mamai
1 Mai Ahang (
Mate
A'. Wracbc
Mi
Mo
Ang. Nang
Y6
Ra
Nd
Bani. Gi
Ki
D6
Tb6
Chun yo
Yekwd
Wo
H6 chun yo
0'a6 ni
Mokwo
Gu. Slip
Su?
K6a?
TokwS
Wo
Thi
H6s
Me kw6
Gu. Sd
Sir
K6a
TiSkwe
Chhu
Ti
Hi
Maro
Sd
Sd
Siira. Hira
Sliki
Chhdng
Taying
Ilihiko
Marka
Siing
Suying
Siii
SOki
Na
Chad
Ji-d
Jau
Ton
Thd nu
Gau
Tung
Dyta
Rod
Mia
I'P
Don
ROd
Sw6n
B6k
Nhyu
Ny6d
Ret
Ria«
■ At,, is i\ ^.re-fix miri nu i
b lu LopoBa rind Liuibti
tli.- \.c\»hA v.-i-l.iil r
1 HI tit- Yt-l'lis, til.' Im.U
tlinu grammaz : tho
tioD yirfcisely in the same way. Thus, from
-/(.', 'bed,' and from the Limbu root noh, 'it
being addi-d in both tongues to the root,
asiil, almost neutral, rt-rerriug rather to root
i and labials (p, b, v, m), with or without a
o oblivion, as well as all eeaas of that Euffised
nrononn, which, in the more complex tongues, helpa to difference the transitive and reflex forma, as ir
Hayu, Gyarung, etc. See on, to weep and give.
d Elongation of terminal vowel merely often BiptftftBflS in eu in declension. Also the abl. and instr. sign ktn
* Though the list exhibits relative and correlative terms, pronominal, and others, it may be doubted if tlu-n
lie any such, or any conjunction equivalent to English "and." The correlative pronoun and the con
junction "also" may indeed be had.
Enjflitl. Tilaan, torittin. Tibetan, tpoktn. Strpa. BhMnior Lhipa Lepche,.
Wool) Ngii. Shum Ono Gniini Gnu Rhiop
Be silent Khrog Chum Khdrd Khd chiim Sakmi
Bpeak Mod, Hmr6n cord corrf Lap Li
1 Di=move : aba 1
Como Hong. «Byon Syd Syok Syd di, corns, or I
° ' here move )
Go S6ng. Oro. Oyu. Oyd. Song Gyok S6ng Nfa
Stand up ACIihar Long Long Long Luk. Ding
Sit down ADdg Del Det Deu GnSn
M.,i.., walk JOro Oyd Dong Dyu X.m. Hi
Itun i-Gvug Oyiige. Obdng Chdng Pan kyap Deung
(livo I'0'""' *%£■ 1>bul' ! I'bin. BS. Bak Bin Ndng. B4. Bak Bo. Bi
tonny Tong |
T"1"' I from em ''''""■ }"""- Hon Len. Yd Ling Len. Nang Lyo
Strike V/Iiiin. rll.-g Dung Diing Diing Bak
Kill KhigSod. /.liiitn s,i Syet Seh Sot
Bring iKbydrg, -h v b B« -v«, five-come Oyap BSsyu.give-come B.i di, give-cune
Talr. .away AKIiiir. AKhvcr Biik wing, give-go Khiir hyup, lift liak song, five-go Bu non, give-go
Uftup,ral*Dl ADege.81on. lKh,.,r Kh(ir TM CMn
Bear, carry ( *N v"b (
Qui Nynn. r/Son Nyon Nyon Nyon Nyen
Undonrnsd Some. Go, Som Syea Som tang. Noh Ohing
'I'll], ril.il.- (.Shod. /ilMihud l.-ip. Ohwe Lap Lap Hun
Good Baiang-po leppo Lomu Uml Aryum.Ryiimbo°
llinl Nong-po Dukpo Ma lomu Mb 1' in A/yen. Zyenabo
Cold iIimii:].., I Xhyangmo Khyii mo Ahyiim. flyiimbo
Hot Tnha-jiM. Hi.; -|i,,- I 'in' P". Tenmo Teu mo Arhiiiii. Ithumho
Haw Zieinbo /..iil.t Mil cho bo Azeu. Zeubo
l.'i,,. Siniiibi. (li.i.ib.. Chobo Chochopo Amyen. Myenbo
Bwoot Gniinii.i Gnormo GnS mo Akbam. Kiiambo
s..iir caret cant Tek po Krop
Bitter Khiiko Klial.ti Klinkn Akrini. Krimbo
ll.nl Dsolmo. *Ttigpo Jobd Ldmo. Simbu Le md Aryiim. Hyumbo
Wy jiffi-? """^"' jiuS Mfl» "•**»»•
Straight Dnnpo TMngbo TAngo ThAng bo NAng
Orooknd iGdrbo. Tuflpo Kfikpo K6k [6k TyokW ifuliuf
Mark, Nngpn Niikjipi tfakjK) N&kpo An.'ik. N'ukbn
wiiitu rfKurpo .Karpo Karpa Kfi p6 A'diim. Dumbo
Red tfukpo U&po Mdvyo MA bo A'heur. Heurbo
< «r.'.-ti /..li.ngl.hi. .llmngii Ntimmo Nhyam bo Phfing phiing
■Long EUngpo Bimbo [Umbo Itfm bii Arhen. Khenbo
Bhort Tliuiunw. Tbdn riling Thimuo Thiiin bu A'tAn. Tiinbo
T(i„ ...... Thombo Thenbo Th«hubo. Tho Ath6.Th.ibo
Short ( ll"ui MAbo MArao Mh&mteiii Mh<.>ur Anniu. MAubo
•Small Ohhtfug. i'lim I'lnin rliung Tippi5 Chung bo Achiin. Chimbo
( !i. ni i )hho*npo«Bombo llombo Oirbii BoDibo Mini- Timbo'
It. mud ■Lmnpo ltiri Gfrmo Gonto yeupo R^r r(5rbo
Squaro Grub zlii Tbdxi TdpcbJ Duzbi yeupo Ton kyongphali
I'1"1, ( ,,i,v Libub !K1;!op Ai".p'i|' ;
Lovol f | oab them Asap. SApbo I
Fnt G TbiStbombo Qyamo GvA m6 \-viim. Syiimbo
TbJn Srobbo. Rldpo Utto Nenma Brfiko Aebim. Chimbo
\N ' li\:il, \.-.\u' Tilting clih«5 IV 1
Mm i K.i.i Kliiilu'uu KhAkum Kb.i kom O'ngnd
Hunger i. Tok To kiing To ki Tidok. Kridoi
I ■ . ' . . .■ inB of the rerbftl radical, it ia hot,
win in .■ is imiM-i .illv ili- in . ■! tin- mlji'i tiviil Imin i>f u.'i.U l>y humus l-I |>iv- .m-l ]i"-.t-h\i-., nuit>- liihiIu-
n throughout 01 v.ry iirirly KK Tht prft>ftZM an- oflt'll omittutl, as Ke-goba, Qoba, good, in l.iintu.
■ ;,f. Mil, cM, «AiW*, through the columns. The roat of thsoiflerencca b< long-
1 Mi.J nosUutd.
■ i;.ptii tin- 1>' i.'iuf. .it,. 1-,miiiu..ii, Tin' latttt ibowt plainly tha Tflwtao >iffiinitii - of the Li pcha tongoe.
'M)i'iilili- i.t '■! ir-Hmmfad, with the ponti?e form eophoni
■ i Bunwaj
H4M'
Khiivn
Krajh
Khwo
Kmd
Rap
Gnak
SwaM
Man chebda
]\u ilvii
Siimii kha cb.in Tiiya pur
M.i chiik
Palo ma pa
Pare
Che"wa
caret
Nava
edict
coier
Biik
Ph«re
BanS
LK0U —,
Kliou.Jyan \\ li
Khd
I!d ni
Pyil
Bage
Khara
Nvii. Svciro Hon
Yiid
\a ni
I.nu
P6gi5 = wake
Y'i5wa liinta
Kiib "
Hiidh
Bok
Yung nu
Y'unga
Tyii
The tii
Ti.lli
Nil mi
Bak
Boge
Biya
Brou
Xvi. Hii
Say
Wha ni
G,ik
I-iikt.!. L6k-te
Y'ar
BwS
Dhid
Yani
Plok
Pirang n6*
Pi-re
PatDg
Pin
Byli. Ti
Pin
Ldiii
Cli
Ld
Eatu. Khntu
Thob
K,i. Na
Kind
U6
My.'
HipM. Hip-t4
M6u
Hob
Da
Tan
Dims
Tup
Sere
Siit
Svii
Tli.'id. Si!d Gnan
Sat
l'hep-piS
Pa Angt
Bou
Ilalri
Pog
Riiko
Pit
TeriS
Khatu
Por
Y'enki
Bhod
A'rh6
Lat
PokhiS. Po-ko
Khuyu
Piiyo
Lhon Bu
N6d
Bii
Pok
Kh.'ps^. Khep-se
YiSnu
Gnan
Ny6
Slid
Thdd
Thande6
Nyen
Siuf iiite. Sing-to
I'li.libe.Che-ke
Sin til
Go
Mlnidid
Phevo
caret
Khang metii
Syat
Kon
Hid
K!niii;riii
Den
Noh ba. Kenohba
Nuhva
Jaba
Bhing1
Ma bbilii
Saba
Gyopch6
atagyepche
Kinuo
Plieni bn. Kephemba Uva. Euva
Ajnba
A'saba
Marin noeo
Kesemba. Sfimba
KCng yaugj
Simba
Chi no
Kego ba. Goba
KuMi'la. Lehla
Kiiyangt
U'cbiva
Lena
Kliwii
Kio ba
Khan cho
Chlnga
A'miva
Mil.il
Cl.rlilllll
Mi ..
Kiisongva
Dauva
Min ba
Nhin gii
Miva
Mincho
Keb'mbah
Lemko
K«ko ba
Gniiba
Jiii
Dll SO
Meiilini nnna*1
Siivo
Pbakii
Soba
T'hiip cho
Ke khik pah
Noli'va. Kenoh'va
Kbakka. Khako
KStnba
Kli.iivii
K'.iiiibiL
Khd cho
KliangniibvaS
Bint kluiba Ij.inlii
She cheja
Rimso
Phem bi
Kephemba
KMng liva
Brota khi- mmB}a
A'saba
MS secho
Mil I..:.: .-..
Tondo
U'dung twong tong
Thiicbo
Tapyong
BCliii
Kyiill
Dhing cho
Shejo
K.'.lc tii
U'dunpii twong tong Kokteng
G ■ 1.
. B&ngo
Kiimakli
Makachakwa
M I . ii-.i
Iliikii
Mldngyfi
Ohik chi dan
8 ,
Kiipliora
KiiliijUa
U'mpi yang wa
Tira
Tiiyii
Tiirkva
Wiilkya
Hi.cho
Bwi 3y«
Lala '
Hala liiwa
Bala
Hvoun
Gyii cho
Lehla
Chak la
Pingai
\Va won
I 'il.i;.
Phiphi daijclii. Qtai
M,5nta
Reng ba
Tahfi. ti-ha Khimba
T&ngba
Diing ta
Tiimba
Chiha. chi-lul Iluiba
Tun iliii
Til pah
Kemba
Kon ta
Nohba
Tadhi. ta-dhi C uhba
Ghi&Dg lb.'
I. ai so
Tilngba
Sim ta
Meba
C'bifdhi=clii-ki- f,. AM .
,ll,i. ila.... Cbeunbo
Chfga, chi-gu Cht'imba
Tern cho
Ho cho
Chiik pa
U'chuli yangt
.liijii
Mai oho
The biil.ii
Yomba
U'tok yang
Giiii .jiing
1 .r,_.lL, ll
-LHl The llli
KrSn cho
K..I «..lu
Kiigak ma
An bo
l.'ll to
Gi.fii. fn-f a rim] d.uif Hallo
Kul ln.l
Kuyoli ttive lish
Pbeb daba I
L6a kona |
Kuni pliba Vt!Zni£ng Kona PU
Ch.m khd nva
II.
1 'l.lit p I' Ml
K i phella
Phemdawa
, ant
1'uli
PhleTid
caret
caret
MehM
Tok pSngJ
rii.'.i.u
I.b.'.ng
I li.il.n
Dh&ho
1 i
Y.~li.i
Y'.ni. Yomyang
Giinsi
J hen ba
llii.li.,
Gy, o
Ni.inii
Il.tanir
Blap chi
Tvnnu
BUS
Mhiincho
Hali
Wiiit' ma
Kwi phlii
PhoTdang
Has. II.
Hi Bona
r.... - i ..I
Set lab ma
Sail
Pitya
Phi .'
TmI.Iv .:,
i" ba ndjeet
ves arc like Burmese :
rya 'it is good,' an.l hung, ditto ; a-ryu-yn
and «L,n,.j 'goi
is block :
- k," in botb
tongues.
*e final is the common imp. sigu = the a, o, u, of other tniifu.^. Tin- jur. . Mint; r..ns..ii,inr ,l..n ■ I
;s the dental 1, i/, or it is the labiaW., f>. ,, ... -unm M I . ie the eimplu radical mere.
lv. or a liquid (/, r)
Limbii and Kiiaim oolnmnaj and
in. .si i.i.iitily. Tim
Lo: BiQt, Biya— root, Be, Bi : Sere, Stru— root 6*6
lastly, the sibilant I.. nns the coningational sign. If we turn to the
larelully the ro.it. tb.i ivM-inblaii... "I lli.wnnji I
Aug penultimate is partitiv... 'I
ii.sII|l S 1 -"I
'.-'■■-.^-ja ^ g .%i
j : - £ r- s
s._ s ; a p= • . 4-> ■ -
? ~~
IllllllrSpCI's
tv « si 11 ■3" i ^^
'= s
fii i% Ail fti^PI
SsS'-UJs3 J •? .s I Z -g
- is I a si •-'£ g jf«* a S
Si family dZ*2si
I"? 1.9'" §'s'S'f'a a a* «'ai|
c = -l's ;§ * §•" g .1 j lid
,"cSl
:a^ s :-,.,-
• =: r
il^ i S .
'l^-alf'
.''' 5 ^ S .L i ~ -r 3 '-jS s, 'C ^ —
1 1'- 1 ■§■ s j I * 'M Is a 1 S
3 = = S-i- •
PART II.
ON THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.*
A clear outline, illustrated by a sketch map of the principal natural divisions
of the Himalaya §, is, and long has been, a great desideratum; for physical geo-
graphy, which derives so many aids from the other physical sciences, is expected
in return to render back to them, without unnecessary delay, a distinct demarca-
tion of its own provinces, since by that alone researchers in so many departments
are enabled to refer the respective phsenomena they are conversant with to their
appropriate local habitations, in a manner that shall be readily intelligible
causally significant, and wholly independent of the shifting and unmeaning arron-
dissements of politics.
It is true, that our knowledge of the large portion of these mountains, lying
beyond the limits of British dominion, is far from complete. But is our know-
ledge any thing like complete of our own hill-possessions ? and, if we are to
wait until Nepal, Sikim, and Bhutan become thoroughly accessible to science,
must we not indefinitely postpone a work, the most material part of which
may (I think) be performed with such information as we now possess ?
The details of geography, ordinarily so called, are wearisomely insignificant ;
but the grand features of physical geography have a pregnant value, as being alike
suggestive of new knowledge, and facilitative of the orderly distribution and
ready retention of old. I purpose to adhere to those grand features, and to
exhibit them in that causal connexion which gives them their high interest with
men of cultivated minds.
I had been for several years a traveller in the Himalaya, before I could get rid
of that tyranny of the senses, which so strongly impresses almost all beholders
of this stupendous scenery with the conviction that the mighty maze is quite
without a plan. My first step towards freedom from this overpowering obtru-
*ExtracteJ from the Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal, No,
xxvii, Calcutta 1857. (Reprinted from the Jour. As. Soc. Bengal for 1849.)
§ Hima 'snow,' Alaya ' place of. ' The compound is Himalaya, not Himalaya as
usually pronounced. The synonymes Himaehala and Himodaya (whence the Classic
JEmoolus) mean, respectively, 'snowy mountain' and 'place of appearance of snow (udaya). '
2 GEOGEAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
siveness of impressions of sense was obtained by steady attention to the fact, that
the vast volume of the Himalayan waters flows more or less at right angles
to the general direction of the Himalaya, but so that the numberless streams of
the mountains are directed into a few grand rivers of the plains, either at or near
the confines of the two regions. My next step was due to the singular significance
of the topographic nomenclature of the Nepalese, whose " Sapt Gandaki " and
" Sapt Kausika "J rivetted my attention upon the peculiar aqueous system of
the Himalayas, urging me thenceforward to discover, if possible, what cause
operated this marked convergence of innumerable transverse parallel streams,
so as to bring them into a limited series of distinct main rivers. My third and
last step was achieved when I discovered that the transcendant elevation and
forward position, at right angles to the line of ghats, of the great snowy peaks,
presented that causal agency I was in search of; the remotest radiating points
of the feeders of each great river being coincident with the successive loftiest masses*
belonging to the entire extent of the Himalaya. It was in Nepal that this solu-
tion of these problems occurred to me, and so uniformly did the numerous routes
I possessed represent the points of extreme divergence of the great rivers by their
feeders as syntopical with the highest peaks, that I should probably long ago
have satisfied myself upon the subject, if my then correspondent, Captain Herbert,
had not so decidedly insisted on the very opposite doctrine — to wit, that the
great peaks intersect instead of bounding the principal alpine river basins.
Captain Herbert's extensive personal conversancy with the Western Himalaya,
added to his high professional attainments, made me for a long time diffident
of my own views. But the progress of events, and increasing knowledge of
other parts of the chain, seeming to confirm the accuracy of those views, it occurred
to me more carefully to investigate whether the facts and the reason of the case
were not, upon the whole, demonstrative of the inaccuracy of that able and lamented
officer's dogma. Doubtless the Western Hirualaya§ presents appearances calculated
to sustain Captain Herbert's opinion, whilst such persons only as are unaccustomed
to deal with the classifications of science, will expect them to correspond point
by point with those natural phenomena, which it is at least one chief merit of
such arrangements, merely to enable us readily to grasp and retain. But that
the entire body of facts now within our ken is upon the whole opposed to Captain
H.'s doctrine,t and that that doctrine suits ill with the recognized axioms of
Geology and Geography, is, I think, certain ; and I shall with diffidence now pro-
ceed to attempt the proof of it.
JSee Journal Asiat. Soc. of Bengal, No. 198, for December 1848, p. 646 &c.
*This expression is used advisedly, f°r every pre-eminent elevation of the Hima-
laya is not so much a peak as a cluster of peaks springing from a huge sustaining and
connected base. But observe, some of the peaks are not advanced before the ghat-
line, but thrown back behind it, as Chumalari and Devadhunga or Nyanam. These
do not influence the aqueous system of the Indian slope of Himalaya ; see on, to
remark on Chumalari. This is a new inference from new facts in part.
§ The Western Himalaya, as it approaches the Belur, is in many respects anomalous,
owing, as I conceive, to the crossing of that meridional chain. The true and normal
Himalaya is parallelic or runs west and east.
t Journal No. 126, extra pp. 20 and 22.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 3
A tyro in geology, I shall not dwell further on the" theoretical side of the
question than may be requisite to facilitate and complete the apprehension of my
readers ; but the facts, quoad Nepal at least, I trust, that my sketch map, rude as
it is, and the following obseiwations, may render sufficiently indisputable ; it being
always remembered that I deal with generals, not particulars, aiming to estab-
lish the general accuracy of my main proposition, viz., that the great peaks, bound
instead of intersecting the alpine river basins, and that, in truth, the peaks by so
bounding create the basins, whereas their intersection would destroy them.
The whole Himalaya extends from 78 deg. to 94 deg. of longitude, comprising
the following peaks and basins: — peak of Jamnoutri (a), peak of Nanda-devi (A),
peak of Dhoula-giri (B), peak of Gosain-than (C), peak of KangchanJ (D), peak
of Chumalhari (E), peak of the Gemini§ (e) — which peaks include and constitute
the following alpine river basins, viz., that of the Ganges, that of the Karnali,
that of the Gandak, that of the Cosi, that of the Tishta, that of the Monas, and
that of the Subhansri (pars). The subjoined table exhibits the elevation and the
position of these dominant peaks, with the authority for both.
a
Jamnoutri . .
. . 25,669
30° 55
78° 12
A
Nanda-devi
. . 25,598
30° 22
79° 50
15
Dhoula-giri
. . 27,600
29° 10
83°
C
Gosain-than ,
, . 24,700
28° 20
86°
I)
Kang-chan .
. 28,176
27° 42
88° 10
E
Chumalhari
, . 23,929
27° 52
89° 18
e
Gemini
J 21,600 1
• ) 21,476 (
27° 50
92° 50
The Himalaya proper is traced along the line of the ghats or passes into Tibet ;
and the principal passes of Nepal and Sikini into Tibet, or Taklakkar, Mustang,
Keriing, Kiiti, Hatia, Walking, Lachen.
Along the last low range of hills are the Maris or Dhvins within the range, and
the position of the Bhaver and Tarai* without it.
Sallyan-mari, Gongtali-mari, Chitwan-mari, Makwani-mari, and Bijaj^pur-niari
are so many Nepalese samples of those singular quasi valleys, termed Dhuns
to the westward. §
In the plateau of Tibet I have indicated the limits of the northern and southern
divisions, and in the latter those of the three great Trans-Himalayan provinces,
X Kang 'snow' ; chan 'abounding in,' 'having,' like the English suffix full in fearful,
etc., Chumalhari, holy mountain of Chuma.
§ I have so named the two proximate peaks of nearly equal height, which are inserted
without name in Pemberton's large map, in long. 92 deg. 50 min, lat. 27 deg. 50 min.
|| Cf. J. A.S. Nos. 126 and 197 ; Asiatic Researches, vol. xii ; also Pemberton's Report
and Map.
* Tarai, tarei, or tareiani, equal to 'lowlands,' 'swampy tract at the base of the hills,'
seems to be a genuinely Turanian word, and were the map of India carefully examined,
many more such pre-Arian terms would probably be discovered, to prove the universal
spread over the Continent of that earlier race, which is now chiefly confined to the Dec-
can. Tar in Tamil, Tal in Catiarese, means 'to be low,' and the affixes ei of Tar-ei,
and M of Tareia-ni, are, the former, Tamilian, and the latter, very general, in or ni
being the genitival and inflexional sign of several Southern and Northern tongues of
the Turanian group of languages. The 'Thai' of Cutch is a term precisely equivalent
to our Tarei, and is the merely aspirate form of Canarese Tal above cited. (Another
etymology was proposed by Lassen's Ind. Alt., i. 69.)
§ See J! A.S. No. 126, p. 33, et seq., and p. 134.
4 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
or Gnari, extending (from the Belur) easterly to the Gangri boundary range
of Lake Mapharn ; Utsang, thence stretching to the Gakbo River beyond Lhasa ;
and Kharn, which reaches from the Gakbo River to the Yiinling, or limitary
range of China and Tibet. || Thus reverting to the regions south of the line of ghats
leading into Tibet, we have, clearly defined, the several natural provinces or
divisions of the Himalaya, with their casual distribution, as follows, commencing
from the westward — 1st, the alpine basin of the Ganges, extended from the
peak of Jamnoutri to the peak of Nanda-devi (Juwar or Juwahir), or, in other
words, from east long. 78° 12' to 79° 50' ; 2nd, the alpine basin of the Karnali,
reaching from the peak of Nanda-devi to that of Dhoula-giri, or from 79° 50' to
83° ; 3rd, the alpine basin of the Gandak, stretching from the peak of Dhoula-giri
to that of Gosain-than, or from 83° to 86° ; 4th, the alpine basin of the Cosi, ex-
tending from the peak of Gosain-than to that of Kangchan, or from 80° to 88°
10' ; 5th, the alpine basin of the Tishta, reaching from the peak of Kangchan to
that of Chumalhari. or from 88° 10' to 89° 18' ; 6th, the alpine basin of the M6-
nas, stretching from the peak of Chumalhari to that of Gemini, or from 89° 18'
to 92 J 50' ; and, lastly, the alpine basin of the Subhansri, of which the western
limit is the Gemini, but the eastern peak is unascertained. It should be sought
somewhere about 94° 50', between which point and the extreme eastern limits
of the Himalaya must be the basin of the Dihong. That the above distribution
of the Himalaya into natural districts is, upon the whole, as consistent with the
facts as it is eminently commodious and highly suggestive, I have no hesitation
of asserting. Lest, however, I should extend my present essay to undue limits, or
trench upon the province of Colonel Waugh and the other able professional
men who are now engaged upon the western hills, I shall say nothing further of the
alpine valley of the Ganges and those west of it, nor upon those lying east of
Sikim.*
If my main assumption be valid, it will be easily worked out by abler hands
and better furnished ones than mine : wherefore the following more detailed
expositions will be chiefly confined to the three great central basins of the
Karnali, the Gandak, and the Cosi. In the first of these basins we have (succes-
sively from west to east) the Sarju, the Gori, the Kali, the Sweti-ganga, the Karnali
proper, the Bheri, and the Jhingrak or Rapti.f And it is certain that, whereas
|| See Routes from Kathmandu to Peking in sequel and paper on Horsok and Sifan.
Sifan is the eastern boundary of Kham, which commences, on the line of route from
Nepal at Sangwa, the 51st stage, and extends to Tachindo, the 104th and political
boundary of Tibet and China. The Yiinliiig chain seems to run along the western
verge, of Sifan.
* In the sequel I shall give the river basins of the Western Himalaya upon the
authority of Dr. Thomson, in order to complete the enumeration of Himalayan dis-
tricts, but simply as results, and without discussion. Dr. T. 's river distribution proceeds
on the same principle as mine, which was published three years prior to his. I think
he has needlessly increased the number of basins and thereby almost marred the effect
of the causal connection of them with the geological structure of the mountains.
+ This identification is probably erroneous, though adopted by Buchanan. The
Jhingrak with a higher source is turned into the Karnali by the Dhoula-giri ridge ;
the proximate Raputi is not so influenced, owing to its lower source, and hence
has an independent course through the plains to the Ganges, like the Gumti, etc., as
enumerated in the sequel.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 5
these streams drain the whole alpine valley of the Karnali, so their most west-
erly source and course is confined on the west hy the Nanda-devi peak, as their
most easterly is limited on the east hy that of Dhoula-giri. These rivers do not
wholly unite within the hills, though their tendency to union is so decided, that
they are known by one name, even in the plains, where their collective appellation
is Sarju or Kali or Ghdgra. In the hills the whole of them are universally de-
nominated by the collective name of Karnali (corrupted by Tlennell and his fol-
lowers into Kenar). Karnali is the proper nanie of this noble river, the Karnali
branch being by far the largest, the central, and most remote of origin. It rises
in Tibet, not far from one of the sources of the Sutlej, and has a considerable Trans-
Himalayan course to the westward of the Taklakhar pass, where it quits Tibet.
No natural district can be more distinct than the alpine basin of the Karnali, as
above defined. It includes the political divisions of Kali-Kumaun, belonging to
Britain, and of the Baisi, or twenty-two Bajes of Nepal, with Yiimila or Jiimla,
Ddti, and Sallyan. In the second basin, or that of the Gandak, we have, succes-
sively from the west, as before, the Barigar, the Narayani, the Sweti-gandaki, the
Marsyangdi, the Daramdi, the Gandi, and the Trisul. These are the " Sapt Gan-
daki '' or seven Gandaks of the Nepalese, and they unite on the plainward verge
of the mountains at Tirbeni above Saran. They drain the whole hills between
Dhoula-giri and Gosain-than, the Berigar, and one head of the Narayani, rising
from the former barrier, and the Trisul, with every drop of water supplied by
its affluents from the latter. Nor does a single streamlet of the Trisul arise east of
the peak of Gosain-than, nor one driblet of the Berigar deduce itself from the
westward of Dhoula-giri. We have thus in the alpine basin of the Gandak another
admirably defined natural division comprised within two great proximate Hima-
layan peaks. This division is named, vernacularly, the Sapt Gandaki. It in-
cludes the old Choubisi or twenty-four Bajes, and belongs to the modern kingdom
of Nepal.
Our third sample of a Himalayan natural province, conterminous with the
utmost spread of the feeders of a large river, and bounded on either hand by a prime
snowy peak, is the basin of the Cosi, which, like the Gandak ,has seven principal
feeders These are as follows : — the Milamchi, the Bhotia Cosi, the Tamba Cosi,
the Likhu, the Dud Cosi, the Arun, and the Tamor.* Of these, the Milamchi,
rising from Gosain-than, is the most westerly, and the Tamor, rising from Kan-
gchan, is the most easterly feeder.f And those two great peaks, with the pre-
eminent ridges they send forth southwards, include every drop of water that reaches
the great Cosi of the plains through its seven alpine branches. All these branches,
as in the case of the Gandak, unite at (Varaha Kshetra above Nathpiir) within
the hills, so that the unity of this alpine basin also is as clear, as are its limitary
peaks and its extent.
* Tamor, Hindi equivalent to Tamvar, Sanskrit. So Dhoula-giri for Dhawala-giri,
and Jamnoutri for Jamnavatari. I have throughout adopted the vernacular forms of
words as being more familiar and quite as correct.
t See J. A. S. No. 189. Route from Kathmandii to Daijeeling.
b GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
The alpine basin of the Cosi is denominated by the Nepalese the Sapt Kausika,
or country of the seven Cosis. It comprises the old Rajes'of the Kinintis,*
Limbiis, and Kala Makwanis, and is included, like the two prior basins, in the
modern kingdom of Nepal.
The country drained by the above three rivers (Karnali, Gandak, and Cosi)
includes the whole of Nepal and the proximate part of Kiiinaun, or, in other
words, 800 miles of the central and most characteristic portion of the Himalaya.
Wherefore it is legitimately presumable that, whatever is true of its natural
divisions, is true of those of the residue, quoad ruling principle and geological
causation.
Now if the above facts relative to these three rivers be justly represented
(and that they are so, in the main, I confidently assert), we are led irresistibly
to inquire why the numerous large feeders of the rivers, instead of urging their
impetuous way from the snows to the plains by independent courses, are brought
together upon or near the verge of the plains ? how unity is effected among them,
despite the interminable maze of ridges they traverse, and despite the straight-
downward impulse given them at their sources ? — I answer, it is because of
the superior elevation of the lateral barriers of these river basins, between which
there are synclinal slopes of such decided preponderance, that they over-rule the
effect of all other inequalities of surface, how vast soever the latter may some-
times be.
These lateral barriers of the river basins are crowned by the pre-eminent
Himalayan peaks, that the peaks themselves have a forward position in respect
to the ghat-line or great longitudinal watershed between Tibet and India, and that
from these stupendous peaks, ridges are sent forth southwards proportionably im-
mense. Thus from the peak of Kangchan is sent forth the ridge of Singilela, which
towers as loftily over all the other sub-Himalayan ridges of Eastern Nepal and
Western Sikim, as does Kangchan itself over all the other Himalayan peaks.
This Singilelan prolongation (so to speak) of Kangchan entirely separates
the waters. of the Cosi and of the Tishta. A similar ridge, that of Dayabkang,f
stretching south from the great peak of Gosain-than, as entirely divorces the
waters of the Cosi and of the Gandak. Another like ridge rising from Dhoula-giri
as effectually sunders the waters of the Gandak and of the Karnali. Another start-
ing from Nanda-devi in like manner wholly separates the proximate feeders of
the Karnali and of the Ganges ; whilst yet another originating with Jamnoutri
wholly separates the Ganges from the Jumna.
Equally effective with the divergent power of each of these supremely peaked
ridges, which run parallel to each other and at right angles to the ghat-line of
the snowy range, upon two river-basins, as just noticed, is of course the convergent
* The classical Cirrhatce, and a' once dominant and powerful race, though they have
long since succumbed to the political supremacy of other races — first the Makwanis
and then the Gorkluilis.
t Hence the name Dhailn'mg, erroneously applied by Colonel Crawfurd to the peak
Dayahhang, 'the destroyer of pity,' from the severity of the ascent.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 7
power of two ridges upon the single contained river-basin. The synclinal lines
from the inner laces of the two adjacent ridges draw the waters together; and,
because these ridged peaks are the loftiest masses of the entire mountains, the effect
of all their other masses, even that of the spine of Himachal or the ghat-line of
the snows, is over-ruled or modified, so that in the most rugged region on earth
a very limited series of distinct main rivers appears in the plains from innumerable
independent alpine feeders, in the manner which all behold, but few indeed think
of referring to its cause.*
It is inconsistent with all we know of the action of those hypogene forces which
raise mountains, to suppose that the points of greatest intensity in the pristine
action of such forces, as marked by the loftiest peaks, should not be surrounded
by a proportionate circumjacent intumescence of the general mass ; and, if there be
such an intumescence of the general surface around each pre-eminent Himalayan
peak, it will follow, as clearly in logical sequence as in plain fact it is apparent,
that these grand peak-crowned ridges will determine the essential character of the
aqueous distribution of the very extended mountainous chain (1,800 miles) along
which they occur at certain palpable and tolerably regular intervals. Now, that
the infinite volume of the Himalayan waters is, in fact, pretty regularly dis-
tributed into a small number of large rivers, we all see ; and, whereas the fact is
thoroughly explicable upon my assumption, that the great peaks bound, instead
of intersecting, the river-basins, it is wholly inexplicable upon Captain Herbert's
assumption that the said peaks intersect the basins.
The above are normal samples of Himalayan water-distribution, and it is
very observable that, whereas all those principal streams which exhibit the uniti-
zing principle so decidedly, take their origine in the alpine region, at or near the
snows, so the inferior streams, which rise from the middle region only, show no
such tendency to union, but pursue their solitary routes to the Ganges ; as for
example, the Mahanada, the Konki, the Bagmatti, the Guniti, the Raputi, the
( Willa, and the Ramganga. Here is both positive and negative evidence in favour
of the doctrine I advocate, as furnishing the key to the aqueous system and natural
divisions of the Himalaya; for the upper rivers do, and the lower rivers do not,
stand exposed to the influence of the great peaks.
The petty streams of the lower region, or that next the plains, which water
the Dhiins or Maris, traverse those valleys lengthwise; and as the valleys themselves
run usually parallel to the ghat-line of the snows, such is also the direction of
these petty streams. In the central, as in the western,* hills, they usually disem-
bogue into the rivers of the first class.
* Since this was written a new peak of transcendant height has been determined,
which yet does not influence the river basins of the Indian slope. The reason is that
this peak is thrown back behind tbe ghat-line like Chumalhari, as to which see on.
Such facts need not affect the justice of what is written above, but must be regarded
as exceptional, at least for the present.
* J. A.S. No. 126, p. xxxiii.
8 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
I have observed that the three great river basins of the Karnali, Gandak, and
Cosi extend throughout Nepal, and truly so ; for a river basin includes the widest
space drained by its feeders. But it results necessarily from the manner in
which the deltic basins of the Himalayan rivers are formed, that there should be
intervals between the plainward apices of these deltic basins. Of these intervals
the most conspicuous in Nepal is that which intervenes between the Cosi and
Gandak. This tract, watered by the Bagmatti, deserves separate mention on
many accounts, and it may be conveniently styled the valley region, since it con-
tains not only the great valley of Nepal proper, but also the subordinate vales of
Chitlong, Banepa, and Panouti.
It has been already remarked, that the classifications of physical geography, as of
the other sciences, do not constitute a perfect " open sesame " to the mysteries of
nature, but only a material help to their study. This observation I will illustrate
by a few comments on the basin of the Tishta, lest the somewhat anomalous
instance of that basin should be captiously quoted to impugn the doctrine I con-
tend for; but contend for, not as exhibiting in every instance an absolute confor-
mity with natural arrangements, but as doing all that can be reasonably expected
in that way, and as furnishing, upon the whole, a generally truthful, causally
significant, and practically useful, indication of those arrangements.
I have stated above, that the basin of the Tishta extends from the peak of
Kangchan to that of Chumalhari. Between these two peaks there occurs what
miners call " a fault " in the ghat-line of the snows, which line, after proceeding
N. Easterly from the Lachen pass to Powhanry,J dips suddenly to the south for
nearly forty miles, and then returns to Chumalhari. A triangular space called
Chunibi is thus detached from the Himalaya and attached to Tibet ; and the basin
of the Tishta is thus narrowed on the east by this salient angle of the snows,
which cuts off the Chiimbi district from the Tishtan basin, instead of allowing
that basin to stretch easterly to the base of Chumalhari. Chiimbi is drained by
the Machii of Campbell, which is doubtfully referred to the Torsha of the plains,
but which may possibly be identical with the Hachu of Turner and Griffiths, § and
consequently with the Gaddada of the plains. But besides that these points
are still unsettled, one of the transnivean feeders of the Tishta rounds Pow-
X Vide Waugh's outline of the snowy range of Sikim, J. A. S. loc. cit.
§ Embassy to Tibet and J. A. S. Nos. 87 and 88, with sketch maps annexed.
Also Pemberton's large map of the Eastern frontier. Rennell is not easily recon-
cilable with them. I had identified the lakes of Cholanni, which give rise to the Tish-
ta, with Turner's lakes. But I now learn from Hooker, that the latter lie a good deal
east of the former, and I am satisfied that Campbell's Machii is distinct from Turner's
Hachu. We need, and shall thus find, space in the hills, correspondent to that in the
plains watered by Rennell's Torsha and Saradingoh and Gaddada and Suncosi.
The Machii, (Maha tchieu of Turner) rises from the west flank of Chumalhari The
Hachu of Turner is a feeder joining his Tehin chii from the west ; the Chaan chu of
Turner is the Sunc6si (the Eastern Suncosi, for there are two there, besides that of Ne-
pal, ) of Rangpur, his Tehin chu is the Gaddada, and his Maha chu the Torsha. The
Aran has its rise in the broken country of Tibet lying north-east and west of the
sources of the Tishta and south of the Kambala, or great range forming the southern
boundary of the valley of the Yaru ; this broken country Dr. Hooker estimates at
from sixteen to eighteen thousand feet above the sea. It is a good deal terraced near
Hirndchal.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 9
haniy and rises from a lake (Cholarnii) approximating to Chunialhari ; so that, one
way or another, the Tishta may be said, without much violence, to spread its basin
from Kangchan to Chumalhari.
Chiimbi and all the adjacent parts of the plateau of Tibet constitute a region as
singular as is the access to it from Sikim by the Lachen pass. That pass sur-
mounted, you at once find yourself, without descent, upon an open undulated
swardy tract, through which the eastern transnivean feeders of the Tishta and
of the Arvin sluggishly and tortuously creep, as though loath to pass the Ilinia
laya, towards which indeed it is not easy to perceive how they are impelled ;
the plateau of Tibet generally sloping on their right to Digarchi, and seeming to
invite the streams that way. This is however of course a water-shed, though by no
means a palpable one ; and we know by the signal instances of the vast rivers of
South America and those of North-eastern Europe, how inconspicuous some-
times are the most important water-sheds of the globe. The sources and courses
of the feeders of the Tishta will shortly be fully illustrated by Dr. Hooker, my
enterprizing and accomplished guest, to whom I am indebted for the above informa-
tion relative to the Lachen pass and its vicinity, and whose promised map of
Sikim, which state is the political equivalent for the basin of the Tishta, will
leave nothing to be desired further on that head.*
But the Himalaya must necessarily be contemplated in its breadth as well as
its length ; and we have therefore still to consider what regional divisions belong
to these mountains in relation to their breadth, or the distance between the ghat-
line of the snows and the plains of India.
The Himalayan mountains extend from the great bend of the Indus to the great
bend of the Brahmaputra, or from Gilgit to Brahmakiind, between which their
length is 1,800 miles. Their mean breadth is (reckoning from the ghats and
purposely omitting the questions of axis and count erslope) about ninety miles;
the maximum, about 110, and the minimum, seventy miles. The mean breadth of
ninety miles may be most conveniently divided into three equal portions, each of
which will therefore have thirty miles of extent. These transverse climatic divi-
sions must be, of course, more or less arbitrary, and a microscopic vision would
be disposed to increase them considerably beyond three, with reference to geo-
logical, to botanical, or to zoological, phenomena. But upon comparing Cap-
tain Herbert's distribution of geological phenomena with my own of zoological,
and Dr. Hooker's of botanical, I am satisfied that three are enough. These
regions I have alreadyf denominated the lower, the middle, and the upper.
They extend from the external margin of the Tarai to the ghat-line of the snows.
The lower region may be conveniently divided into — I. the sand-stone range
with its contained Dhuns or Maris — II. the Bhaver or Saul forest — III. the Tarai.
The other two regions require no sub-divisions. The following appear to be
those demarcations by height which most fitly indicate the three regions : —
*The reader will observe that this paper was written in 1846.
i J. A. S. for December 1847 and June 1848.
to GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALATA.
Name. Elevational limits.
Lower region Level of the plains to 4,003 f -et above the sea.
Central region . . . . 4,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea.
Upper region 10,000 to 16,000f feet above the sea: highest peak
measured is 23,002 feet.
It is needless to remind those who are conversant with physical geography,
that in passing in a tropical country, by a long and gradual ascenf, from near the
sea level to several (4-6) miles above it, one iumt necessarily meet with regions
equivalent, quoad organic phsenomena, to the three great zones of the earth, or the
tropical, the temperate, and the arctic; and, in fact, our three regions above indicated
Correspond in the main with those zones, and might be named after them, but that
it is desirable to avoid terms involving theory, when those designating mere facts
will suffice. But to resume. It is thus made apparent that the Himalaya, or,
to be more precise, the Indian slope of the Himalaya, admits of a double series
of natural and convenient divisions, those of length being coincident with the
basins of the main livers, and those of breadth with a triple division on the scale of
elevations, from that of the plains to that of the perpetual snow, which latter tallies
pretty nearly with the mean height of the passes into Tibet, or sixteen to seven-
teen thousand feet. But, as the plains are customaiily divided into the upper,
central, and lower provinces, so the Himalaya, in reference to its length, may be
Conveniently divided, when larger divisions than those of the river basins need
to be spoken of, into the western, embracing the basins of the Jhilum, Chinab,
Bias, Ravi, Satluj, Jamna, Ganges, Ghagra, within the British territories ; the cen-
tral, including the basins of the Karnali, the Gandak, and the Cosi, within those of
Nepal; and the eastern, embracing the basins of the Tishta, Monas, Subhansri,
and Dihong, which include Sikim, (now half British), Bhutan, and the territories
of the disunited lawless tribes lying east of Bhutan. And it is very observable
that, in respect of climate, the above suggested analogous divisions of the plains
and mountains correspond, for the more you go westward in plains or mountains,
the greater becomes the dryness of the air and the extremes of heat and cold.
But the grand determiner of climate, as dependent on heat, in all parts of the
Himalaya, is elevation, which acts so powerfully and uniformly, that for every thou-
sand feet of height gained, you have a diminution of temperature equal to 33 or
3|° of Fahrenheit: consequently the transverse regions, notwithstanding their
proximity, show, upon the whole, a much more palpable variety of climate
than is incident to the lengthwise divisions of the chain, how remote soever
they may be. But in reference to moisture, the next element of climate, the case
is somewhat altered, for every movement towards the west (N.W.) along the
lengthwise development of the Himalaya, carries you further and further out of
% This is aliout the average height of the ghats and of the perpetual snow. It is
also nearly the limit of possible investigation, and of the existence of organic phseno-
mena. -But the upward limit need not lie rigorously assigned — 4,000 is the limit
of snow-fall to the south, well tested in thirty years — 4,000 is also that point which
best indicates the distinction of healthful and malarious sites.
GEOGRAPHY OP THE HIMALAYA. II
the line of the rainy monsoon, which is the grand source of supply of moisture.
The third determining and very active cause of climate operates throughout the
chain, determining chiefly the specific differences. It consists in the number,
height, and direction of the ridges interposed between any given position and the
direction of the S. W. or rainy monsoon ; for, each of these ridges, crossing more
or less directly the course of the vapour from the ocean, has a most marked effect
in diminishing the quantity of rain and moisture behind such covering ridge, so
that, inasmuch as by receding from the plains towards the snows, you interpose
more and more of these ridges, you find not only temperature falling with eleva-
tion gained (as a general rule,) but also greater dryness of air, less moisture, more
sunshine, (and so far more heat) ; and, as a general consequence, a gradual diminu-
tion of that excessive natural vegetation, arboreal and other, which is the uni-
versal characteristic of these mountains; yet still with greater power in the cli-
mate of these remoter districts of ripening grains and fruits of artificial growth,
owing to the diminished rain and increased sunshine of summer, and in spite of
the general decrease of the temperature of the air. That combination of tropical
heat and moisture to which we owe the generally " gorgeous garniture " of moun-
tains so stupendous has, at low elevations, the bad effect of generating a malaria
fatal to all but the peculiar tribes, whom ages untold have been inured to it, and
whose power of dwelling with impunity in such an atmosphere is a physiological fact
of very great interest. The tribes adverted to are called Awalias, from dival,
the name of malaria.
The whole of what I have denominated the "lower-region," as well as all the deep
beds of the larger rivers of the "central region," lying much below what I have
given as the elevational demarcation of the two regions, or four thousand feet, are
subject to the dioal.
After what has been stated, it will be seen at once, that tables of temperature,
rain-fall, and moisture, could, if given, only hold true of the exact spots where
they were registered.
The latitude in a small degree, but in a far greater, the longitude, or posi-
tion with reference to the course of the rainy monsoon — the number of inter-
posed ridges crossing that course — and the elevation, are the circumstances deter-
mining the heat and moisture, that is, the climate, of any given spot of the Eastern,
Central, or Western Himalaya. There are amazing differences of climate in
very proximate places of equal elevation, caused by their relative position to covering
ridges, and also, as has been proved experimentally, by the effects of clearance of
the forest and undergrowth, and letting in the sun upon the soil.
The general course of the seasons is the tropical, with cold and dry weather, from
October to March, and wet and hot weather from April to September, correspondent
to the duration of the N.E. and S.W. monsoons. The springs and autumns, how-
ever, are more clearly marked than the latitude would promise, and from the middle
of March to the middle of May, and again, from the middle of September to the
middle of December, the weather is delightful. From the middle of December
12 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
to the end of February is the least agreeable portion of the year, being cloudy and
rainy or snowy, with cold enough to make the wet tell disagreeably, which it does
not do in the genial season of the rains. The general character of the climate
is derived from its combined and great equability and temperateness. For
months the thermometer hardly ranges 5° day and night, and that about " tempe-
rate" of Fahrenheit, or the perfection of temperature ; and altogether, the climate
is one of the safest (I here speak of the central and normal region) and most
enjoyable in the world. The wind is generally moderate, except in March, when
the " Phagwa " of the N.W. plains reach us, but shorn of its fervour. The quantity
of electricity is, on the whole, small, and storms are nearly confined to the setting
in and close of the rainy season. Epidemics are very rare ; endemics almost
unknown ; so that it would be difficult to cite a Himalayan, disease, unless such
must be called dyspepsia. Goitre is more or less prevalent, but not often accom-
panied by cretanism. The general character of the surface in all parts of the
Himalaya is a perpetual succession of vast ridges, highly sloped, and having
very narrow interposed glens. Valleys properly so called are most rare. There are,
in fact, only two throughout the great extent from Gilgit to Brahmakimd, or those
of Cashmere and Nepal, the latter only sixteen miles in either diameter.
Lakes also are small and very infrequent. Three or four in Kiimaiin, and two
or three in Western Nepal (Pokra), in both cases juxta-posed, constitute the
whole nearly. But it seems certain that lakes were more frequent in some prior
geological era, and that the present valleys of Cashmere and Nepal once existed in
a lacastrine state.
The Himalayan ridges are remarkable for the absence of chasm and rupture,
and their interminable uniform lines, with the similarity of tone in the verdure of
the ceaseless forests, (owing to the rarity of deciduous trees), detract somewhat
from those impressions of grandeur and beauty, which mountains so stupendous
and so magnificently clothed are calculated to convey. The transverse or climatic
division of the Himalaya, though of course most noticeable and important in
reference to organic phsenomena, is also worth attention, in regard to inorganic
ones. I shall however say little of the geology or of the botany of the
Himalaya, abler pens than mine having now treated the subject. A little more
space may be given to the ethnology and zoology, both as matters I myself am
more conversant with, and which still have a deal of novelty in reference to geo-
graphical distributions particularly.
Every part of the chain abounds in minerals, particularly iron and copper ; lead,
zinc, sulphur, plumbago, in less degree. Mineral springs, both hot and cold, sapid
and insipid, are generally diffused, and I am aware of other instances of lambent
flame issuing in the fashion of the well-known Jwalamukhi of the Punjab,
which superstition has consecrated. There is no lime-formation, and the
mineral is very rare as a deposit : salt is unknown, though it abounds across the
snows. So also the precious metals. Minerals and mineral springs are most
frequent in the central region, so likewise the iron and copper veins: organic fossil
remains and the small traces of coal, almost or quite peculiar to the lower region,
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 13
arid far more abundant to the N.W. than to the S.E. In geology the upper region
may be called the locale of granites and gneisses ; the middle region that of
gneisses and schists; the lower region that of the sandstone formation and of
diluvial debris. It may be added that granite is much more extensively developed
in the upper region than had been supposed, and that igneous rocks are by no
means so entirely wanting: indeed, igneous action is displayed to a stupendous
extent in the hypogene rocks, both stratified and unstratified, of the upper and
central regions. There are no volcanos, active or extinct. Slight earthquakes
are very frequent : severe ones, rare ; very severe ones, unknown.
In botany the upper region is that of Junipers, Cypresses, Cedars, Larches,
Yews, Poplars, Boxes, Dwarf Rhododendrons, Hollies, Willows, Walnuts, Birches,
and, in general, of the superior Conifers, particularly to the S.E., for to the N.W.
they descend into the middle region, even the stately Cedar, which however is
unknown east of Kiimaun. In the second or central region* Birches, Hollies,
and Willows recur. It is the region of Oaks, Chesnuts, Horse Chesnuts, Magnolias,
Laurels, Alders, Tree Rhododendrons, Cherry and Pear Trees (large and wild),
Oleas (forest trees), Maples or Sycamores, Thorns, Ashes, Elms, Horn-beams,
Elders, Taper and Wax Trees, Tea Allies, (Eurya and Thea also,t as an importation
which has succeeded to perfection, but chiefly below 4,000, Tree Ferns, some few
and peculiar Palms (Chamoerops, etc.), and the inferior sorts of Pines.
The third or lower region is that of Sauls (Shorea) Sissus (Dalbergia), Acacias
and Mimosas, Tunds (Cedrela), Cotton Trees (Bombax), Tree Figs (Elasticus, Indi-
cus, Religiosos, etc.), Buteas, Dillenias, Duabangas, Erythrinas, Premnas, some
common Palms (Phoenix), etc., but rare and poor, with recurring Tree Ferns, but
more rarely than above perhaps, though the Tree and common Ferns, like the great
and small bamboos, may be said to be borderers, denoting by their point of
contact the transition from the lower to the central region. Pinus longifolia
recurs in the lower region, descending to the plains nearly in Nepal, but most of
the other Conebearers in Nepal, and still more, east of it, eschew even the central
region, abundant as they are therein in the Western Himalaya. So likewise the
Tree Rhododendrons in the Eastern Himalaya are apt to retire to the northern
region, though in the Central Himalaya they abound in the central region.
In zoology, again, to begin with man, the northern region is the exclusive
habitat of the Bhotiaa (Cis-Himalavan, called Palusen, Rongbo, Serpa, Siena,
Kathbhotia, etc.,) who with their allies the Thakoras and Palrias extend along the
whole line of the ghats, and who, with the name, have retained unchanged the
lingual and physical characteristics, and even the manners, customs, and dress, of
their transnivean brethren. To tbe central region are similarly confined, but
each in their own province from east to west, the Mishmis and Mirris, the
Bors and Abors, the Kapachors, the Akas, the Daphlas, (east of Bhutan), the
* X.B. — Central in length is called, central only, or central Himalaya; central of
breadth, central region.
+ Both tea and coffee plantations are now well advanced in the Eastern Himalaya,
with the surest prospect of success. In the Western Himalaya that success is now a fact
accomplished.
14 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
Lhopas (in Bhutan), the Lepshas or Deunjongmaro (in Sikim), the Limbusor Yak-
tkumbas, the Yakhas, the Khorahos or Kirantis, the Miirmia or Taniars, the Pahi
or Padhi, the Newars, the Sunwars, the Chepangs, the Kusundas, the Vaj*us
or Kayus, the Giirungs, the Migars. the Khas or Khasias (in Nepal), the Kohlis,
the Doms, the R.ijhis, the Haris, the Garhwalis, the Kanets, the Dogras,* the Kak-
kas, the Bambas, the Gakars, the Dardus, the Dunghars (west from Nepal). To
the lower region again, and to similarly malarious sites of the middle region, are
exclusively confined, the Kocches, the Bodos, the Dhimals, (Sikim and east of
it), the Kichaks, the Pallas, the Tharus, the Denwars, the Kiimhas, the Bhramus,
the Dahis or Daris, the Kuswars, the Thamis, the Botias (not Bhotia) (in Nepal),
the Boksas (in Kiimaun), the Khatirs, the Awaus, the Janjohs, the Chibs, and
the Bahoas (west of Kiimaun to the Indus).
The Himalayan population is intensely tribe-ish, and is susceptible of a three-
fold division of pregnant significance, and quite analagous to what holds true of
the aboriginal Indian and Indo-Chinese populations, viz., first, into the dominant
or unbroken tribes, such as the Khas, Magar, Gurung, Newar, Murmi, Lepsha,
Bodpa, etc. ; second, into the broken tribes, such as nearly all those termed Awalias,t
as well as the Chepang, Kusunda, and Ilayu ; third, into the tribes of helot crafts-
men : —
Of the mountains of Nepal. Of the valley of Nepal.
Chun ha, carpenters. P6, executioners and workers in bamboo.
Sarki, curriers. Kulu, curriers.
Kami, blacksmiths. Nay, butchers.
Sunar, gold and silver smiths. Chamakhala, scavengers.
Gain, musicians. Bong, Jugi, musicians.
Bhanr, ditto, but prostitute Kou, blacksmiths.
their women. Dhusi, metallurgists.
Damai, tailors. Awa, architects.
Agri, miners. Bali, agriculturists.
Kumhal or I tters Nou, barbers.
Kiuari, j ^ ' Kuma, poLters.
Sangat, washermen.
Tatti, makers of shrouds.
Gatha, gardineis.
Sawo, bleeders & suppliers of leeches.
Chliipi, dyers.
Sikami, carpenters.
Dakami, house builders.
Lohongkami, stone cutters.
* The late Captain Cunningham (in epist. ) refers the Dardurs (Darada) and the Don-
ghers to the upper region, as also the Kauets, who extend northward, beyond the Hima-
laya, wheie they even form "the mass" on either side the Satluj. They are of mixed
origin, like the Khas of Nepal, the Dogras of Punjab, and the Gadhi of Chamba.
t A list of Awalias ; — 1 Kocch, 2 Bodo, 3 Dhimal, 4 Garo, 5 Dolkhali, 6 Batar or
Bor, 7 Kudi, 8 Hajong, 9 Dhanuk, lOMaraha, 11 Ain't, 12 Kebrat, 13Kichak, 14Palla,
15 Tharuh (not own name in Sallyan), 16 Boksa (Kumaon), 17 Dahi or Darhi (allied
to Bhramu), 18 Thami, 19 Pahi or Pahri (allied to Newar and Murmi), 20 Kumha (not
own name), 21 Botia (allied to Kuswar), 22 Kuswar, 23 Denwar (allied to two last),
24 Bhramu (allied to Dahi), 25 Vayu (not Awalias but broken tribe), 26 Chepang, and
27 Kusunda (ditto).
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 15
The position and affinities of the List are still (o me an enigma, as they were
when I adverted to them in my work on the Koceh, Bodo, and Dhimal. As black-
smiths,* carpenters, curriers, etc., their services are, and ever have been, invalua-
ble; yet they are degraded to the extent of being outcasts. Their manners have
little, and their tongues nothing, and their physical attributes not much, to d note
their race and lineage. Of the other two masses of the population, the unbroken
tribes are clearly the more recent immigrants from the north, and in general they
are distinguished by languages of the simpler Turanian type, whereas the languages
of the other or broken tribes are of the complex or pionornenalized type, tending,
like their physical attributes, towards a -simulation with the Dravirian or the
Ho, Sontal or Munda, sub-families of the tons of Tur. These broken tribes are de-
monstrated by their relative position to be of far older date in the Himalaya as in
Indo-China, and perhaps also in India, than the unbroken; and altogether, the
phsenoinena of ethnology in the Himalaya warrant the conclusions, that the Hima-
layas were peopled by successive swarms from the great Turanian hive, and that
its tribes are still traceably akin alike to the Altaic branch of the north and
to the Dravirian and Munda of the south.} The Khas, Kanets and Dogras, and
several others of the Western Himalaya, are clearly of mixed breed; aboriginal
Tartars by the mother's side, but Aiians (Brahman and Kshetriya) by the father's,
as I have shown in my memoir on the military tribes of Nepal. (J.A.S.B.
May 1833.)
In reference to those European speculations touching the peopling of the
Indian continent which have been lately raised, chiefly on the basis of my voca-
bularies, I may remark generally, that very remotely sundered peiiods of immi-
gration, from the north by no means involve totally different routes of immigration,
and still less races so trenchantly demarked from all the priorly recognized ones
as have been lately assumed and denominated Gangetic, Lohitic, Taic, &c. Every
day multiplies the proofs of affinity between the Himalayans and the recognized
sub-families of Altaia, Indo-China, and Draviria ; whilst, abating the single fact
of the Brahoi tribe having lingual affinities with the Turanians, I see no safe
ground for assuming that the sons of Tur entered India generally or exclusively
by the well-known route of the immigrant Arians, or by any yet more southerly
route. The hundred gates of the Himalaya and of its off-shoots have stood open
in all ages ; beyond them, in all ages, have dwelt the diversely tongued and fea-
tured tribes of the vastest, and most erratic, and most anciently widespread, but
still single branch of the human race ; and, as I find similar diversities of tongue
and feature, characterising that branch alike in the Cis and Trans-Himalayan
countries, so I believe that the former have been peopled from the latti r
by successive incursions along the whole Himalayan ghat line, of races and tribes
which there is yet no sufficient ground for contra-distinguishing from all the here-
* Of all the unbroken tribes, the Magar alone have their own miners and smiths.
See and compare what is told of the old mines and miners of the, Altai. See also a note
in my work on the Kocch Bodoand Diurnal.
J See paper on Nilgirians, J.A.S.B., and also two essays on the Vayu and Balling
tribes, iu the same Journal ^1857).
1 6 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
tofore recognized ones of the north.* African immigration at any time, and by
any route, appears to me a sheer assumption. But it may well be, that some
of the sons of Tur entered by the Arian route, and that these were among the
earliest immigrants, whose more westerly abode and point of entrance into India
is still indicated by the higher structured tongues of their presumed descendants.
But we must not forget that there are complex tongues at the eastern as well as
at the western extremity of the Altaic region (in its wide sense) ; that many of
these tongues are most imperfectly known ; that Sifan and Central Himalaya and
Indo-China are now known to be tenanted by races speaking tongues of the com-
plex type, some even more complex than the Dravirian, and more allied to the
Gond, Ho and Sontaltype ;§ and, above all, that the essential character (including
differences and resemblances) of the above adverted to several sub-types of lan-
guage, embracing the true affiliation of the races using them, is yet to be deter-
mined. So that we can only now safely say that the general relationship of all the
sons of Tur in and beyond India is as certain as their more special and close
affinities are uncertain.!
But to proceed with our zoological enumerations. To the upper region exclu-
sively belong, among the ruminants, the bisons (poephagus) and musks, the wild
goats (ibex, hemitragus) and wild sheep (pseudois, caprovis) ; among the rodents,
the marmots and pikas (lagomys) ; among plantigrades, the bears proper (ursus).
In the middle region, true bovines (bos) take the place of the bisons of the
upper legion ; bovine and caprine antelopes (budorcas, capricornis, nemorhedus)
replace its musks and wild goats and sheep ; common rats and mice, and hares and
porcupines and hedgehogs its marmots and pikas ; and sun bears (helarctos) its
true bears; whilst the deer family, unknown to the upper region, is here repre-
sented onlyj by the anomalous stilt-horns (stylocerus). In the lower region the
ox-family is represented by bibos and bubalus (splendid wild types) ; the deer
family, here abundant, by rusas, rucervi, axises, and stilt-horns to boot ; the
* I allude more particularly to the writings of Prof. Max Midler and Dr. Logan
No one can more freely than myself admit the scholastic attainments and skill in the
science of grammar of the former, or the immense and skilful industry of the latter.
But I demur to their inductions, nor can I see the advantage of multiplying nominal,
that is to say, undefined or crudely defined ethnological groups. We must have first
a just definition of the family, and thereafter, by and bye, definitions of the several
sub-families already recognized, when the definition of the rest may follow.
§ See the essays on the Yayu and Balling now published in the Jour. As. Soc. Bengal,
[a.d. 1857].
"tin my papers on the Nilgirians and in those on the Vayu and Bailing, above alluded
to, I have classed the Himalayans under the two great divisions, of such as use prono-
menalized and complex and such as use non-pronomenalized and simple tongues. In the
memoirs on the Vayu and Bailing, I have analysed their languages as exemplars of
the complex type of speech in Himalaya. The double pronomenalization of those
two tongues, indicates their close affinity to the Ho-Sontal group of languages of the
plains.
1 1 am fully aware that Rusas (samber) are found in the western hills, but a careful
consideration of the facts in that part of the Himalaya, with due advertence to the
known habits of the group, satisfies me that these Deer have been driven into the west-
ern hills by the clearance of the Tarai and Bhaver. For some remarks on this subject,
see J.A.S. of Bengal No. 211, for January 1850, page 37.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. I 7
antelopes by tetracerus, or the four-horned kind ; the rodents by the bambu
rats (rizomys) and spiny hares (caprolagus) ; and the bear family by the honey-
bears (melursus) ; add to all which that to this region are exclusively confined
all the large pachydernies, such as the elephant and rhinoceros ; and the monkeys
also (semnopithecus et inacacus), though not so exclusively in their case. The
carnivora, again, are represented in the upper region by ounces, by foxes of a
large sort (montanus), by the weasels proper, and by the ailuri or catlories ;
in the middle region, by the wild dogs (cyon), the marten-weasels, leopards,
thick-tailed leopards (macroceloides), wild cats (murmensis, pardochrous, ogilbii),
chances or Lybian lynxes (Lybicus), zibets, screwtails (paradoxurus), and priono-
dons; and in the lower region by tigers, leopards, hyenas, wolves, jackals,*
insectivorous foxes (kokri), bear-badgers (ursitaxus), sand-bears (arctonyx), urvas,
mangooses, helictes or Oriental gluttons, small civets (viverrula), hirsute screw-
tails, and sharp-faced cats (celidogaster). Zibets and chauses recur in this
region frequently, and one small species of mangoose (auropunctata) is found
in special spots of the central region. The otters in the upper region are re-
presented by the small golden and brown species (aurobrunnea) ; in the central,
by monticola and indigitata ; in the lower, by the large Chinese species (Sinensis).
Among the squirrels, the great thick-tailed and large purple species (macruroides
et purpureus) belong solely to the lower region ; the small lokries (locria et locro-
ides) to the central; and the Siberian, to the upper; whilst flying squirrels, a nu-
merous group, (magnificus, senex, chrysothrix, alboniger), are confined to the
central region, so far as appears. In the bat group, the frugivorous species, or
pteropines, all are limited to the lower region, whilst the horse shoes (rhinolophince)
specially affect the central region; and the bats proper (vespertilionina?) seem
to be the chief representatives of the family in the northern region. From the
class of birds, we may select, as characteristic of the three regions, the following : —
The true pheasants [phasianus], the tetrougalli, the sanguine pheasants [itha-
"inisl, the horned and crested pheasants [ceriornis, lophophorus] of the upper
region, are replaced by fowl-pheasants [galophasis]f in the mid-region, and by
* Jackals have made their way (like crows and sparrows) to the most populous spots
of the central region, but they are not proper to the region, nor Indian foxes, though
some of the latter turned out by me in 1827 in the great valley of Nepal have multi-
plied and settled their race there. Ab his disce alia. Tigers, for example, are some-
times found in the central and even northern region. But ample experience justifies
my asserting that they are wandering and casual intruders there, whereas leopards are
as decidedly fixed and permanent dwellers. As a sportsman during twenty years,
1 have, whilst shooting pheasants and cocks, fallen in with innumerable leopards,
whose fixed abode in numberless locales was pressed on my attention involuntarily.
But I never fell in with a single tiger, and I know them to be wanderers and
intruders.
t The influence of longitude on geographic distribution might be singularly illustrated,
did space permit, from numerous Himalayan groups, Galline and other : thus, for ex-
ample, a black-breasted Ceriornis is never seen east of tbe Kali, nor a red-breasted one
west of it. So of the black and white-crested Gallophasis ; whilst a black-backed one
is never seen west of the Arvin, nor a white-back east of it. With reference to the
more dominant influence of latitude, or what is the same thing, elevation, I may add
that the Rasores of the three transverse regions exhibit an exquisite sample of grada-
tion from a Boreal or Alpine to a tropical type ; Phasianus, Gallophasis and Gallus
cc
1 8 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
fowls proper (gallus) in the lower. In like manner, among the partridges (perdi-
cinse), the grouse and snow-partridges (lerva and sacfa) belong exclusively to the
upper region ;§ the chakors (caccabis) and the tree partridges (arborieola) to the
central ; and the francolines (francolinus) to the lower, though the black species
of this last form are also found in the mid-region. In the pigeon group the
blanched pigeons (leuconota) belong solely to the upper region ; the vinous pigeons
(Hodgsoni) to the central ; and the green, the golden, and the banded (treron,
chalcophaps, macropygia) almost as entirely to the lower ; the trerons alone partially
entering the central tract from the lower.
The splendid Edolian shrikes (chibia, chaptia, edolius) belong exclusively to
the lower region. They are replaced in the central tract by plain dicrurines,
and in the upper by plainer lauians. The cotton-birds (campephaga) of the
south are replaced by gaudy ampelines (cochoa) and leiothricinians (leiothrix,
pteruthius, cutia) in the middle region ; but both groups seem excluded from
the north. Among the fly-catchers the gaudy or remarkable species and forms
belong wholly or chiefly to the lower region, as tchitrea, rhipidura, cryptolopha,
myiagra, hemichelidon, chelidorhynx ; whilst those which approach the warblers
(niltava, siphia, digenea) belong to the mid-region ; and the plainer and more
European types are alone found in the northern.
Among the fissirostres, goat-suckers and swallows are pretty generally dis-
tributed ; but rollers, bee-eaters, eurylaimi, trogons, and all such gaudy types
belong to the south, with only occasional alpine representatives, as bucia is of
merops. The tenuirostral birds belong distinctly to the lower region, yet they
have representatives or summer visitants in all three, even among the sun-birds.
Upon the whole, however, it may be safely said that the sun-birds (nectarinia)
belong to the south ; the honey-suckers (tneliphagidse) to the centre and south ; and
the creepers, honey-guides, nut-hatches, and wrensj to the north and centre. The
sylvians or warblers are too ubiquitarian, or too migratory for our present purpose
even Boreal types being common in the lower region in the cold weather. Horn-
bills, barbets, parroquets (paheornis, psittacula) belong to the lower region, though
they have a few representatives in the central ; none in the upper. Wood-
peckers abound in the lower and central regions, but are rare in the upper.
True cuckoos (cuculus) are as common and numerous (species and individuals)
in the central region as walking cuckoos (phsenicophaus, centropus, &c.) are in
the southern, where also the golden (chrysococcyx) and dicrurine cuckoos (pseu-
dornis) have their sole abode ; whilst what few of the group belong to the upper
region are all allied to the European type. Of the conirostral group, the ravens,
pies, choughs, nut-crackers, and conostomes of the upper region are replaced in
the central region by tree pies (cissa, dendrocitta), jays, rocket-birds (psilorhinus),
being thoroughly normal forms of their respective regions, and Gallophasis being as
intermediate in structure and habit as in locale.
§Sacfa and Crosoptilon are more properly Tibetan.
J I have in this paper followed, without entirely approving Mr. Gray Junior's classi-
fication of my collections in the printed catalogue. The geographic distribution is now
attempted for the first time. But I will recur to the subject in a separate paper
devoted to it.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 1 9
pie-thrushes (garrulax), timalias, and hoopoe thrushes (pomatorhinus) ; and in the
lower region by the common Indian crows (culminatus et splendens), grackles,
pastors,* stares, vagabond-pies and dirt-birds (malococercus). Thrushes proper,
with rock-thrushes, ousels, myophones, zootheres, tesias, and hypsipetes are aa
abundant in the central and upper region as bulbuls, orioles, pittas are in the cen-
tral and lower.
In the finch family the haw-finches, bull-finches, gold-finches and cross-bills
(loxia) are as strictly confined to the upper region as are the corvine-cono-
stomes, nut-crackers, choughs and ravens. The former are replaced in the central
regicra by the buntings, wood-finches (montifringilla) and siskins; and in the lower
region, by the weavers and munias. The raptorial-birds are in general to cosmo-
politan to subserve the purposes of geographic distribution. Still it may be re-
marked that the archibuteos and true eagles belong, quoad breeding at least, to
the upper region ; the crested eagles (circseetus,) the neopuses and hawk eagles
(spizsetus) to the central ; and the pernes (halicetus et panclion) and haliasturs to
the lower. Among the vultures the distinction is more marked ; for the eagle
vultures (gypaetus) belong exclusively to the upper region ; the large European
vultures (f ulcus et cinereus) to the central; and the neophrons and the small
Indian vultures (Bengalensis et tenuirostris) to the lower. The Himalaya abounds
in falconidce, all the occidental types and species being found there, and many more
peculiar and oriental ones ; and it deserves special remark that whereas the former
(imperial;*, c/in/seetos, lanarius, peregrinus. pahunbarius, nisus, etc.) affect the upper
and central regions, the oriental types (hypotrwrchis, hahastar, ierax, hyptiopus
velhaza, elanus, poliornisj are quite confined to the lower region.
Those perfect cosmopolitans, the waders and swimmers, migrate regularly in
April and October, between the plains of India and Tibet, and, in general, may
be said to be wanting in the mountains, though most abundant in the Tarai.
The great herons (nubilis et cinereus ;) the great storks (nigra et purpurea,) and
great cranes (the cyrus, culung, and damoiselle) of the Tarai# are never seen in the
mountains, where the egrets alone and the little green and the maroon-backed
represent the first group. But the soft-billed smaller waders (scolopaciclce) are
sufficiently common in the mountains, in which the woodcock^ abounds, breeding
in the upper region and frequenting the central, and rarely the lower region, from
October till April. Geese, ducks, and teals swarm in the Tarai, where every
occidental type, so to speak, for they are ubiquitous, may be seen from October till
April; and* many oriental non-migratory types; whereas in the mountains the
mergansers (orientalis) and the corvorants {Sinensis et pygmmts) only are found, and
that°very scantily ; with a few rails, ibisbills, porphyries, hiaticulas, gallinules,
* When Darjeeling was established, there was not a crow or pastor or sparrow to be
seen Now there are a few crows and sparrows, but no pastors. Enormously abun-
dant as all are in the lower region, this sufficiently proves they are not native to the cen-
tral tract, though common in the great valley of Nepal. Sparrows first seen m 1855.
Crows soon made their appearance. ,
t H Schlagintweit procured a woodcock with its nest and young m June at an elevation
of about 12,000 to 13,000 feet. They are frequently got, and snipes also, in the scrub
rhododendron thickets near the snows.
20 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
and sandpipers, out of the vast host of the waders. J In the way of general remark
I may observe that the zoology of the Himalaya is much richer in the multitude
of its divers forms (genera and species) than in individuals of the same form, and
that it is remarkably allied to the zoology of the Malayan islands, as may be seen at
once by a reference to the excellent work of Horsfield. As you pass northwards,
towards and across the snows, the forms and species tend much to approximation
with those of our European home ; but the species are not often absolutely identical.
But I must hasten from these zoological details to make some remarks on the
sub-divisions of the lower region, a subject which, though in many ways interesting
and important, is so little understood, that the celebrated Mrs. Somerville, in
her excellent treatise of Physical Geography, has represented the Tarai as being
within, not only the Bhaver, but the Sandstone range. §
All observant persons who have proceeded from any part of the plains of India
into the Himalaya are sensible of having passed through an intermediate region
distinguished by many peculiarities ; and, if their route have lain to the north-
west, they can hardly have failed to notice successively the -verdant Tarai, so
unlike the arid plains of Upper India ; the vast primaeval Saul forest, so every
way unique ; and the Dhiins or valleys, separated from the last tract by a low
range of hills. The natives of the plains have in all ages recognized these several
distinct parts of the lower Himalayan region, which they have ever been, and
are still wont to frequent periodically, as strangers and foreigners, in order to graze
innumerable herds of cows and buffaloes in the Tarai, or to procure the indispensa-
ble timber and elephants peculiar to the Bhaver, or to obtain the much-prized
drugs and dyes, horns and hides, (deer and rhinoceros,) rals and dhiinas (resin
of Saul and of Cheer), and timber of the Dhiins. Nor is there a single tribe of
Highlanders between the Cdsi and the Sutlej which does not discriminate between
the Tarai or Tari, the Jhari or Bhaver, and the Dhiins or Maris. Captain
Herbert has admirably described* the geological peculiarities and external aspect
of each of these well-known tracts. His details are, indeed, confined to the space
between the Kali and the Sutlej ; but the general characteristics of these tracts
he affirms to be equally applicable to all the country between the Mechi and the
Sutlej ; and Captain Parish, whilst confirming Herbert's statements, makes them
so likewise as far westward as the Beas.f What Captain Herbert states as holding
good from his own personal researches in regard to the Western Himalaya (Sutlej
to Kali), I can confirm from mine in regard to the Nepalese portion (Kali to
Mechi), but with this reservation that no more in the Western than in the Ne-
£ For an ample enumeration of the mammals and birds of the Himalaya, (150 sp. of
the former, and 650 of the latter,) see separate catalogue printed by order of the Trus-
tees of the British Museum in 1845. The distribution is not there given. For addi-
tions to the catalogue since 1845 see A and M of Natural History and Zoology Journal
of London, and Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal, and second catalogue of British
Museum, published in 1863.
§ Physical Geography, vol. i. , p. 66.
* J. A. S.B., number 126, extra pp. 33 and 133, ct scq.
t J. A. S.B., numbers 190 and 202, for April 1848-49.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
21
palese Himalaya does the Sandstone range, with its contained Dhuns, prevail
throughout or continuously, but only interruptedly or with intervals ; and thus
the Sallyan-niari, the Gongtali-mari, the Chitwan-mari, the Makwanpur-niari,
and the Bijaypur-rnari of Nepal (which are mostly separate), represent with per-
fect general accuracy the Deyra, Kyarda, Pinjor, Patali, and other Dhuns to the
westward. The accompanying sectional outline will give a more distinct idea
than any words could do of the relations of the several parts of the lower Ilinia-
Disposition of parts in the lower region of the Himalaya.
The Tarai.
Sandstone j Mountains of
range &, Dhun. central region.
the plains.
layan region to the plains on the one hand, and to the mountains on the other,
according to Captain Herbert's views. The continuous basal line represents the
level of the plains ; the dip on the left, the Tarai; the ascending slope in the centre,
the Saul forest; the dip on the right, the Dhuns or Maris. It is thus seen that
the Tarai sinks below the level of the plains ; that the forest forms a gradual even
ascent above that level ; that the Dhiins continue the ascent to the base of the
true mountains, but troughwise, or with a concave dip ; and, lastly, that the Dhuns
are contained between the low Sandstone range and the base of the true moun-
tains. The Tarai is an open waste, incumbered rather than clothed with grasses.
It is notorious for- a direful malaria, generated, it is said, by its excessive moisture
and swamps — attributes derived, first, from its low site ; second, from its clayey
bottom ; third, from innumerable rills percolating through the gravel and sand of
the Bhaver, and finding issue on the upper verge of the Tarai (where the gravelly
or sandy debris from the mountains thins out), without power to form onward
channels for their waters into the plains. The forest is equally malarious with
the Tarai, though it be as dry as the Tarai is wet. The dryness of the forest is
caused by the very porous nature of that vast mass of diluvian detritus on which
it rests, and which is overlaid only by a thin but rich stratum of vegetable mould,
everywhere sustaining a splendid crop of the invaluable timber tree (shorea robu-
staj, whence this tract derives its name. The Sand-dove range is of very incon-
siderable height, though rich in fossils. It does not rise more than three to six
hundred feet above its immediate base, and is in some places half buried (so to
speak) in the vast mass of debris through which it penetrates.* The Dhuns are as
* The low range which separates the Dhun and Bhaver, on the high-road to
Kathmandu, consists almost wholly of diluvium* rounded pebbles loosely set inocheroua
11 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
malarious and as dry as the Shaver. They are from five to ten (often less, in one
instance more) miles wide, and twenty to forty long, sloping from either side towards
their centre, and traversed lengthwise by a small stream which discharges itself
commonly into one of the great Alpine rivers — thus the Raputi of Chitwan-mari
falls into the Gandak, and that of Bijaypiir-mari into the Cosi. The direction
of the Maris or Dhuns is parallel to the ghat line of the snows, and their sub-
stratum is a very deep bed of debris, similar to that of the Bhaver, but deeper, and
similarly covered by a rich but superficial coating of vegetable mould which, if not
cultivated, naturally produces a forest of Saul equal to that outside the Sandstone
range, and then in like manner harbouring elephants, rhinoceroses, wild bulls
(bibos), wild buffaloes, rusas, and other large deer (rucerw), with creeping things
(pythons) as gigantic as the quadrupeds. The height of the Sandstone range
Captain Herbert estimates at 3,000 feet above the sea, or 2,000 above the plains
adjacent ; and that of the Dhuns (at least the great one), at 2,500 above the
sea, and 1,500 above the plains. These measurements indicate sufficiently the
heights of the lower region, and it is observable that no elevation short of 3,000
to 4,000 feet above the sea suffices to rid the atmosphere of the lower Himalaya
from malaria. Thus, the Tarai, the Bhaver and the Dhuns are alike and universally
cursed bv that poisonous~atmosphere. And this (by the way) is one among several
reasons* why I have assigned 4,000 feet of elevation as the southern limit of the
healthful and temperate mid-region ; that above it being the arctic or boreal,
and that below it, the tropical region, though it must never be forgotten that
much of the tropical characters, especially in the course of the seasons, pervades
the whole breadth (and length likewise) of the Himalaya, whatever be the
decrement of heat, and also that, from the uncommon depth of the glens in which
the great rivers run, and which, in the central and even upper region often reduces
the height of those glens above the sea below the limit just assigned for salubrity,
such glens are in both these regions not unfrequently as malarious as is the whole
lower region.f
clay, such as forms the great substratum of the Dhun and Bhaver. The sandstone
formation only shews itself where the rain torrents have worn deep gullies, and it
there appears as white weeping sand, imperfectly indurated into rock. Crude coal,
shale, loam, are found in this quarter, but no organic fossils, such as abound to the
westward.
a By "diluvium" I merely mean what Lyell expresses by "old alluvium." I advert
not to the deluge, but simply imply aqueous action other than recent, ordinary aud extant.
* That 4,000 feet of elevation form a good demarcation of the tropical and temperate
regions of the Himalaya, is well denoted by the fact, that this is the point where snow
ceases to fall, as I have ascertained in the Central and Eastern Himalaya by the obser-
vations of thirty years. What I mean is, that snow just reaches that limit and never
falls beyond it or below it. It may be otherwise in the Western Himalaya, where
snow is more abundant at equal elevations. The small or hill species of bamboo, which
prevail from 4,000 to 10,000 of elevation, mark with wonderful precision the limits
of the central healthful and normal region of the Himalaya. These most useful species
(there are several) would doubtless flourish in Europe.
t Thus the valleys of the Great Rangit and of the Tishta, near and above their
junction, are not more than 1,000 feet above the sea, at a distance nearly interme-
diate between the plains and the snows, and in the midst of the central region; and
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 23
But the above characteristics of the sub-divisions of the lower Himalayan region,
how noticeable soever to the west of the Mechi, are by no means so to the east
of that river, where a skilled eye alone can painfully detect the traces§ of the
sandstone formation (without which there can be, of course, no Dhuns,) and
where the Tarai, considered as a trough running parallel to the mountains, form
no marked feature of the country, if indeed in that sense it can be said to exist at
all. And as, even to the westward, the Sandstone range, with its contained Dhuns,
is by no means constant, it may be desirable to attempt to characterise the lower
region considered as a whole, without reference to local peculiarities or too rigidly
defined sub-divisions. Now I conceive that the lower region owes its distinctive
character, as a whole, to the vast mass of diluvial detritus, which was shot from
the mountains upon the plains, like gravel from a cart, at some great geological
epoch, and which has been, since its deposit, variously and often abraded both in
degree and direction, by oceanic, and, in a far less degree, by ordinary floods. Where
there was, at the epoch in question, no sandstone range to intercept the downward
.spread of the debris, this debris would necessarily be carried further south, and be
of less thickness ; where there was such a barrier, it would be carried less far
southward and be accumulated in greater thickness, especially within the barrier ;
and, in like manner, where no sandstone range existed, but only spurs, sent forth,
like bent arms, upon the plains from the mountains, the embayed detritus would
still be deeply piled and lofty within such spurs,* and thinly and unequally spread
without them, by reason of the action of the spurs on the currents. Again, where,
as from Gowhatty to Saddia, there was not room upon the plains for the free spread
and deposit of the descending Himalayan detritus, owing to large rapid rivers and
to other chains, both parallel and proximate to the Himalaya, the pha?nomena
created elsewhere by the more or less unrestricted spread of the Himalayan detritus
over the plains would necessarily be faintly, if at all, traceable. Lastly, if at the
time of the descent of the debris, there existed a great dip in the Gangetic plains
those valleys are consequently as malarious as the Tarai. So also the valleys of the
Sunkosi at Damja and of theTrisul below Nayakot, and many others well known to me.
§ In my recent expedition in the Tarai east of the Mechi, with Dr. Hooker, that
accomplished traveller first detected traces of the sandstone formation, with imperfect
coal, shale, etc., in a gully below the Pankabari Bungalow, as well as at Lohagarh. The
sandstone rock barely peeped out at the bottom of the gully lying in close proximity with
the mountains, so that nothing could be more inconspicuous than it was as a feature
in the physiognomy of the country.
* There is a signal example of this on the road to Darjeeling vid Pankabari, where
the debris, embayed by a curving spur, is accumulated to several hundred feet, and
where, moreover, there is outside the spur a conspicuous succession of terraces, all due
to oceanic forest, and clearly shewing that the subsidence of the seab was by intervals,
and not at once. Constant observation has caused the people of the Tarai to distin-
guish three principal tiers of terraces, from the prevalent growth of trees upon
each. The highest is the Saul level, the middle the Khair level, and the. lowest the
Sissu level ; Shorea, Acacia and Dalbergia being abundantly developed on the three
levels as above enumerated.
b I do not imply by this phrase any reference to the theory that the sea has sunk and
not the land risen. 1 think the latter much the preferable hypothe is, but desire merely
to infer a change in the relative level of the two, and to link my fains upon the string
of an intelligible system.
24 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
from north-west to south-east, the lithologic character, as well as the distribution,
of the debris, would be materially affected thereby; for the subsiding oceanic cur-
rent would have a set from the former to the latter quarter, and would continue
to lash the gravel into sand, and here to deposit both in a series of terraces, there
perhaps utterly to displace both, in the latter quarter long after the former had
emerged from the waves. Now, that the Himalaya really was, at one time, in
great part submerged ; that the vast mass of detritus from the Himalaya at pre-
sent spread over the plains in its vicinity was so spread by the ocean when the
founts of the deep were broken up ; that this huge bed of detritus, every where
forthcoming, is now found in unequal proportion and distribution and state of
comminution ; as for example, deeper piled within than without the Sandstone
range and the embaying spurs, and also, more gravelly and abundant to the north-
west, more sandy and scant to the south-east ; * and, lastly, that the Gangetic
plain really now has a great oblique dipt from the Sutlej at Buper to the Brahma-
putra at Gwalpara, whereby all the Himalayan feeders of the Ganges are in the
plains so much bent over to the eastward — these are presumptions relative to the
past, as legitimate as the extant facts suggesting them are incontrovertible ; and
we have but to observe how, at the grand epoch adverted to, the action of gene-
ral causes was necessarily modified by the peculiar features of the scene, as above
indicated, in order to come at a just conception of the aspect and character of the
lower Himalayan region, all along the line of the mountains. Thus the longitudi-
nal trough parallel to the mountains, and exclusively denominated the Tarai by
Captain Herbert, may to the north-west have been caused by the set of the sub-
siding oceanic current from north-west to south-east; but however caused, it
exists as a palpable definite creature, only beneath the Thakorain and Kumaun, is
faintly traceable beneath Nepal, and is wholly lost beneath Siliiin and Bhutan.
But the great bed of debris is everywhere present, and with no other distinctions
than those pointed out, whether it be divided into Bhaver and Dhiin, by the Sand-
stone range, as is usually the case west of the Me"ehi, or be not so divided owing
to the absence of that range, as is always the fact east of the Mechi. Again, every
* Captain Herbert has given statements of its depth to the westward, where there is
a Sandstone range. To the eastward, where there is none, I fount] it on the right bank
of the Tishta, under the mountains, 120 feet ; at fifteen miles lower down, 60 to 70
feet ; at fifteen miles still further off the mountains, 40 to 50 feet. There was here no
interruption to the free spread of the detritus, and I followed one continuous slope and
ievel — the main high one. The country exhibited, near the rivers especially, two or
three other and subordinate levels or terraces, some marking the effect at unusual floods
of extant fluviatile action, but others unmistakeably that of pristine and oceanic forces.
I measured heights from the river. I could not test the sub-surface depth of the bed.
There was everywhere much more sand than gravel, and boulders were rare.
+ Saharunpiir is 1,000 feet above the sea; Miiradabad 600 ; Gorakpur 400 ; Dumdanga
312; Rangpur 200 ; Gwalpara 112. My authorities are As. Res. vol. xii., J.A.S. B.
No. 126, Koyle's Him. Bot., Griffith's Journals, and J. Prinsep in epist. The oblique
dip to the plains towards the east seems to be increasing, for all the Himalayan rivers
descending into the plains, as they quit their old channels, do so towards the east only.
I would propose, as an interesting subject of research, the formal investigation of this
fact, grounding on Rennell's maps and noting the deviations which have occurred since
he wrote. The Tishta which fell into the Ganges now falls into the Brahmaputra.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 1%
tohere there is, at that point where this vast bed of gravel and sand thins out, a
constantly moist tract, caused by the percolation of hill-waters through the said
bed, and their issue beyond it ; and that constantly moist tract is the Tarai,
whether it runs regularly parallel to the line of mountains and be distinctly
troughed, as to the Westward is the case, or whether there be no such regularity,
parallelism, or of troughing, as to the Eastward is the case.
Why that vast mass of porous debris, which every where constitutes the
appropriated domain of the Saul forest, and that imporous trough outside of it,
which every where constitutes its drain, should as far Eastward as the Mechi,
be both of them developed parallclly to each other and to the line of the moun-
tains, whilst beyond the Mechi Eastward to Assam (exclusive) they should exhibit
little or no such parallellism, but should rather show themselves plainwards,
like an irregular series of high salient and low resalieiit angles resting on the moun-
tains, or like small insulated plateau,* or high undulated plains,! surrounded in
both the latter cases by low swampy land analogous to the Tarai, it would require
a volume to illustrate in detail. I have given a few conspicuous instances in the
foot-notes. For the rest, it must suffice to observe that such are the general ap-
pearances of the Bhaver and Tarai to the Westward and to the Eastward ;
and that the general causes of the differences have been pretty plainly indicated
above, where the necessary effects of the sandstone range, of the mountain spurs,
and of the Eastern dip of the plains upon those oceanic forces, to which all
phaenoniena of the region owe their origin, have been suggested.
Throughout Assam, from Gwalpdra to Saddia, Major Jenkins assures me there
is neither Bhaver nor Tarai ; and if we look to the narrowness of that valley
between the Himalaya and the mighty and impetuous Brahmaputra, and consider
moreover the turmoil and violence of the oceanic current from the N.W., when
its progress was staid by the locked-up valley of Assam, we shall be at no loss to
conceive how all distinctive marks of Bhaver and Tarai should here cease to be
traceable .%
It will be observed that, in the foregone descriptions of our Himalayan rivers,
f have not adverted (save casually in one instance, in order to correct an error
* Parbat Jowar, on the confines of Assam and Eangpur, is one of the most remarkabel
of these small plateau. It is considerably elevated, quite insulated, remote from the
mountains, and covered with saul, which the low level around exhibits no trace of. Par-
bat Jowar is a fragmentary relic of the high level, or Bhaver, to which the saul tree
adheres with undeviating uniformity.
+ Conspicuous instances occur round Dinajpur and north-west and north-east of Sili-
gori in ltangpur, where are found highly undulated clowns, here and there varied by
flat-topped detached hillocks, keeping the level of the loftiest part of the undulated
surface. Looking into the clear bed of the Tishta, it struck Dr. Hooker and myself at the,
same moment, how perfectly the bed of the river represented in miniature the conforma-
tion of these tracts, demonstrating to the eye their mode of origination under the sea.
* The climate of that portion of the Eastern Himalaya, which is screened from the
south-west monsoon by the mountains Sonth of Assam, is less humid than the rest,
precisely as are the inner than the outer parts of the whole chain. The fact, that much
less snow falls at equal heights in the humid Eastern than in the dry Western Hima-
laya, depends on other causes. Darjeeling hasuot half as much snow as Simla.
26 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
as to the true name of the Kali) to their partial Trans-Himalayan sources. And
I confess it seems to me, that perspicuity is by no means served by undue insistency
on that feature of our rivers. Captain Herbert was thus led to travel beyond his
proper limits with a result by no means favourable; for, it appears to me, that he
has confounded rather than cleared our conceptions of Central Asia as the Bam-i-
dunya (dome of the world) by attempting- to detach therefrom that most character-
istic part of it, the plateau of Tibet, because certain Indian rivers have (in part)
Tibetan sources ! My theory of water-sheds does not incline me to venture so
far into regions too little known, to allow of the satisfactory settlement of the
question, and the less so, inasmuch as the rivers I have to speak of would not
afford so plausible an excuse for so doing-, as if I had to treat of the Indus, Sut-
lej,* and Brahmaputra alias Sanpu. f The Arun and the Karnali, though they
draw much water from Tibet, draw far more from the "pente meridionale" of the
Himalaya, or the ghat line and all South of it ; and this is yet more true of the
Ganges, the Monas and Tishta, though they also have partial Trans-Himalayan
sources. To those sources of the several Himalayan (so I must call them)
rivers above treated of, I will now summarily advert : —
The Monas. — It is by much the largest river of Bhutan, which state is almost
wholly drained by it. It has (it is said) two Tibetan sources, one from Lake
Yamdotso vel Palte vel Yarbroyuni, which is a real lake, and not an island sur-
rounded by a ring of water as commonly alleged — the other, from considerably
to the West of Palte. These feeders I take to be identical with Klaproth's
Mon-tchu and Nai-tchii vel Labnak-tchu, strangely though he has dislocated them.
The Tishta is also a fine river, draining the whole of Sikim, save the tracts
verging on the plains. The Tishta has one Tibetan source, also, from a lake,
viz., that of Cholamu. To speak more precisely, there are several lakelets so
named, and they lie close under the Ni W. shoulder of Powhanry, some thirty
miles AV. and forty S. of Turner's lakes.
The Arun is the largest of all the Himalayan rivers, with abundant Cis-
Himalayan and three Trans-Himalayan feeders. One, the Western, rises from
* Recte SaMj vel Satrudra.
+ Dr. Gutzlaff, once read a paper before the Geographical Society of London, and
reverted to Klaproth's notion, that the Sanpu is not the Brahmaputra. But Mr. Gutz-
laff overlooked J. Prinsep's important, and 1 think decisive argument on the other side,
viz., that the Brahmaputra discharges three times more water than the Ganges, which it
could not do if it arose on the north-east confines of Assam, notwithstanding the large
quantity of water contributed by the Monas. Y.'.rii or Yeru (Eru) is the proper name
of the river we call Sanpu, which latter appellation is a corruption of the word Tsang-
po,a referring either to the principal province (Tsang) watered by the Yarn, or to the
junction therewith, at Digarchi, of another river called the Tsang, which flows into
the Yam from the Nyenchhen chain or Northern boundary of Southern Tibet. Eru
vel Aru is the proper spelling. But words beginning with the vowels a and e, take
initial y in speech. 1 take this occasion to observe, in reference to the Vanido lake
above mentioned, that it is not, as commonly described and delineatedin our maps, of a
round shape, but greatly elongated and veiy narrow. It is stated to me on good autlio
rity to be eighteen days' journey long (say 180 miles), and so narrow in parts as to be
budged. It is deeply frozen in winter, so as to be safely crossed on the ice, whereas
the Eru river is not so, owing to the great force of its current — a circumstance proving
the rapid declivity of the. country watered by this great river.
a[Tsang po means simply 'river,' and should not be called Sanpu but Tsang po.— J.S.]
GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA. 27
the " pente septentrionale" of the ETimalay a,in the district of Tingri or Pekku; another,
the Northern, from a place called Durre; and a third, the Eastern, from the undu-
lated terraced and broken tract lying N. and a little W. of Cholainu and S. of Kam-
bala, or the great range which bounds the valley of the Yard* on the S. from W. of
Digarchi to E. of Lhasa.
The Kamdli is much larger than the Alpine Ganges, and nearly equal to the
Ariin, perhaps quite so. It drains by its feeders the whole Himalaya between the
Nanda-devi and Dhoula-giri peaks, and has itself one considerable Tibetan
source deduced either from the north face of Ilimachal near Momonangli, or from
the east face of that crescented sweep, whereby Gangri nears Ilimachal, and whence
the Karnali flows eastward to the Taklakkar pass.
The Ganges also has of late been discovered to have one Tibetan feeder, viz.,
the Jahnavi, which after traversing a good deal of broken country in Gnari,
between the Sutlej and the Himalaya, passes that chain at the Nilang Ghat to join
the Bhagarathi.J
I will conclude this paper with the following amended comparative table of
Andean and Himalayan peaks, Baron Humboldt having apprised me that Pent-
land's measurements, as formerly given by me, have been proved to be quite
erroneous, and Colonel Waugh having recently fixed Kangchan and Chumalhari
with unrivalled precision and accuracy : —
Chief peaks of Andes. Feet. Chief peaks of Himalaya. Feet.
Aconcagua 23,000 Jamnoutri 25,669
Ckimbarazo 21,424 Nanda-devi 25,598
Sorato 21,286 Dhoula-giri ....27,600
Illimani 21,149
Gosain-than 24,700
Devadhiinga 29,002
Descabasado 21,100 Kangchan 28,176
Desya-cassada 19,570§ Chumalhari 23,929
jy.2?. Devadhiinga vel Bhairavthan vel Nyanam, half way between Gosain-than
and Kangchan, is 29,002, ft. determined in 1856. Kang-chan, 'abounding in snow.'
Chumalhari, 'holy mountain of Chuma.' These are Tibetan words; the other
names are Sanskritic, but set down in the Prakritic mode, e.g., Jamnavatari equal
to Jamnoutri, etc.
Postscript.— That sensible and agreeable writer, Major Madden, in a letter
(May 1840) to Dr. Hooker, notices " the disgraceful state of our maps of the
* The valley of the Yard is about sixty linear miles from the Sikim Himalaya (Li-
chen and Donkia passes); but the intermediate country, called Damsen, is so rugged,
that it is ten stages for loaded yaks from the one terminus to the other. Damsen is
stated to be one of the most rugged and barren tracts in the whole of Utsang or Cen-
tral Tibet, a bowling wilderness. — Hooker.
JMoorcroft's Travels, J. A, S.B. No. 126, and I.J. S. Nos. 17-18. _
§ Humboldt, in his Aspects of Nature, has given some further corrections of those
heights There are three peaks superior to Chimbarazo, but inferior to Aconoagua.
2 8 GEOGRAPHY OF THE HIMALAYA.
Himalaya, which insert ridges where none exist, and omit them where they
do exist ; and moreover, in regard "to all names, show an utter ignorance of the
meaning of Indian words." It is the express object of the above essay to contri-
bute towards the removal of the weightier of those blemishes of our maps,
without neglecting the lesser, by exhibiting, in their true and causal connexion, the
great elevations and the river basins of the Himalaya. Major Madden supposes
that the term Hyvindes, which he applies to Tibet, points to that region as the
pristine abode of the Huns. But this is a mistake. Hyun-des is a term unknown
to the language of Tibet. It is the equivalent in the Khas or Parbatia lan-
guage* for the Sanskrit Himyades, or land of snow. Its co-relative term in the
Parbatia tongue is Khas-des, or land of the Khas. The Khas race were till
lately (181G) dominant from the Satliij to the Tishta: they are so still from the
Kali to the Mechi. Hence the general prevalence of geographic terms derived
from their language. By Hyun-des the Parbatias mean all the tracts covered
ordinarily with snow on both sides of the crest or spine of Hemachal, or the ghat
line ; and by Khas-des, all the unsnowed regions south of the former, as far as
the Sandstone range.
The Brahmans and those who use Sanskrit call the Hyun-des, Blnitant or
appendage of Bhot, and hence our maps exhibit a Bhutant in what Traill deno-
minates (A. R. vol. 1G) the Bhote perganahs of Kiimaun. But Bhutant is not
restricted by the Brahmans to such perganahs in Kiimaun merely, far less to any
one spot within them. It includes all the districts similarly situated along the
entire line of the Himalaya. We might create confusion however by recurring
to his extended meaning of the word, since it has long been restricted by us
to the Deb Rajah's territory, or Bhutan (recte Blnitant). Moorcroft's Giannak
in Western Tibet is the ne pins ultra of abuse of words. Far to the east, some
Bhotia must have told him, lie the Gyannak or Chinese, and thereupon he in-
continently gives this term as a name of place.
The Tibetans call their neighbours by the generic name Gya, to which they add
distinctive affixes, as Gya-nak, black Gyas, alias Chinese; Gya-ver, yellow Gyas,
alias Russians; and Gya-gar, white~f Gyas, alias Hindus. With reference to the
Huns, if I were in search of them in Tibet, I should look for them among the Hor of
that country, as I would for the Scythians among the Sog vel Sok. Sogdiana
or Sogland was, I conceive, the original Zakeia, the first known historic seat of
the Indian Sakas and Tibetan Sog vel Sok. Horsok, as one term, means Xomade,
in Tibetan such being still the condition of those two tribes in Tibet.
* For a sample of this tongue, which has a primitive base, but overlaid by Pracrit,
see J. A. S. B. No. 191, June 1848.
% Observe that these epithets do not refer to the colour of men, but only to that
of their dress ; the Chinese are fond of black clothes and the Indians universally
almost wear white ones. The like is probably equally true of similar designations of
Turanian tribes in various other parts of the vast Tartaric area {e.g. Red Karens),
though Ethnic theories have been spun out of the other interpretation of thes^ dis-
tinctive terms.
ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA. 29
2. ON THE ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA.
The following paper was written in 1847. It was then presented to the Asiatic
Society of Bengal, as a summary view of the affinities of these tribes as deduced
from a tolerably copious comparison of their languages or dialects.
Accordingly, I submitted a comparative vocabulary of twelve of the dialects found
in the Central* sub-Himalayas, inclusive; for comparison's sake, of the written as
well as spoken language of Tibet, it being of much importance to give this lan-
guage in both forms; first, because it is employed in the former state with many
unuttered letters, and second, because all the dialects or tongues with which it is
to be compared exist only (with two exceptions§) in the latter or unwritten and
primitive state.
With regard to the English vocables selected, I have adopted those of Mr. Brown,
in order to facilitate comparisons with the Indo-Chinese tongues, as exemplified by
him ; but, to his nouns substantive, I have added some pronouns, numerals, verbs,
adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and adjectives, under the impression that
nothing short of such a sample of each of the parts of speech could at all suffice
for the attainment of the end in view. Geographically or topically, I have confined
myself to the East of the river Kali or Ghagra, as well because the dialects pre-
vailing to the Westward of that river are for the most part extremely mixed,
and indeed almost merged in the ordinary tongues of the plains of Hindusthan,
as also because I have no immediate access to the people of the West. The case
is very different in the Eastern sub-Himalayas, where I was domiciled, and where,
as will be seen, the Indian Prakrits have hardly been able to make a single cog-ni-
zable impression upon any of the numerous vernaculars of the people, with the
sole exception of the Khas or Parbattia Bhasha, which, as being a mongrel tongue
I have omitted. I have likewise, for the present, omitted some interesting tongues
of a genuinely aboriginal character, which are spoken East of the Kali, either by
certain forest tribes existing in scanty numbers, nearly in a state of nature, such as
the Chepang and Kiisunda, or by certain other peculiar and broken tribes, such
as the Hayu, the Kiiswar, the Botia, the Denwar, Durre" or Dahri, Bhramu, Tkaru,
and Boksa, who cultivate those low valleys from which malaria drives the ordinary
*I formerly spoke of the Himalaya, as divided lengthwise (north-west to south-
east) into Western and Eastern. I now regard it as divided into Western (Indus
to Kali), Central (Kali to Tishta), and Eastern (Tishta to Brahmakund) portions. The
present paper treats of the Central Himalaya. Breadthwise the chain is regarded as divi-
ded into the Northern, Middle, and Southern regions, the word region being always
added to contra-distiuguish'the latter demarcation. Himalaya properly speaking is the
perpetually snowed part of the chain. I used to contra-distinguish the lower part or
southern slope by the term sub-Himalayas. But objections having been raised, I now
acquiesce in the term Himalaya as applied to the whole.
§ The exceptions are the Ncwari and Lepsha, which form the topic of my second essay.
30 ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA.
population, or, lastly, by several races of kelotic craftsmen* whose habitat is general"
That ordinary population, exclusive of the now dominant Khas or Parhattias Pro-
per,! above alluded to, consists, between the Kali and the Dhansri, in Nepal,
Sikim, and Bhutan of ; 1st. Ois-Himalayan Bhotias vel Tibetans, called Piongbo,
Siena or Kath Bhotia, Palu Sen,J Serpa or Sharpa etc.; 2nd. Sunwar ; 3rd.
Giirung, 4th. Magar ; 5th. Miirmi ; 6th. Newai ; 7th. Kiranti ; 8th. Limbu vel
Yak thumba ; 9th. Lepcha or Deiinjong-maro ; 10th. Bhiitanese or Lhopa vel
Dukpa.||
I have enumerated the races as they occur, in tolerably regular series, from
west to east, in given and definite locations of old standing : but the first named
are found pretty generally diffused throughout the whole extent, west and east, of
my limits, though confined therein to the juxto-nivean tracts or Cachar region ;
whilst the participation of the Gurungs and Magars, or military tribes, in the
recent political successes of the now dominant Khas, has spread them also, as
peaceful settlers, in no scanty numbers, easterly and westerly, from the Kali to the
Mechi. The rest of the tribes have a more restricted fatherland or janam bhumi,
and indeed the locale of the Magars and Gurungs, not a century back, or before
the conquests of the House of Gorkha, was similarly circumscribed ; for the
proper habitat of these two tribes is to the west of the great valley, which tract
again, (the valley), and its whole vicinity, is the region of the Murmis and Ne-
wars ; whilst the districts east of the great valley, as far as Sikim, are the abode
of the Kirantis and Limbiis, as Sikim is that of the Lepshas, and Deva Dharma
or Bhutan that of the Lhopas or Diikpas, usually styled Bhiitanese by us. These
constitute, together with the Siinwars, who again are mostly found west of the
great valley and north of the Magars and Gurungs, near and among the cis-nivean
Bhotias, § the principal alpine tribes of the sub-Himalayas between that western
point (the Kali) where the aboriginal tongues are merged in the Prakrits and that
eastern limit (the Dhansri) where they begin to pass into so-called monosyllabic-
tongued races of presumed Indo-Chinese origin4a The sub-Himalayan races I have
just enumerated inhabit all the central and temperate parts of these mountains, the
juxta-nivean or northernmost tracts being left to the Rongbo vel Serpa vel Palu
* See p. 14, part ii. of this volume, supra, and note.
+ Parbattia means ' Highlander,' but this general sense of the word is restricted by
invariable, usage to the Khas.
£ The Newars of Nepal Proper call the cis-nivean Bhotias, Palu Sen, and the trans-
nivean, Tha Sen. The Chinese call the Mongolian Tartars, Tha Tha.
|| Lhopa is a territorial designation, Dukpa a religious, that is, the country is called
Lho, and the sect of Lamaism prevailing in it, Dvik. Klaproth's Lokabadja, and Bit-
ter's Lokba, are both equivalent to Bhotan vel Lho. The postfix ba means ' of, or be-
longing to, ' so that Lokba, recte Lhopa, is ' a Bhiitanese man or native of Lho. '
§ Bhotia is the Sanskrit, and Tibetan the Persian, name, for the people who call
themselves Bodpa, or Bod, a corruption possibly of the Sanskrit word Bhot.
+a More recent researches induce me to demur entirely to a trenchantly demarked mono-
syllabic class of tongues, and to adopt the opinion that India (Dravirian) and the
countries around it on the north aud north-east were peopled by successive incur-
sions of affiliated tribes of Northmen, among whom I see no sufficient reason to segre-
gate from the rest, as is commonly done, the Bod pas of Tibet, the Eastern Himalayans,
nor even the proximate Indo-Chinese or people of Western Indo-China.
ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA. 3 1
Sen, and the southernmost parts, as well as the low valleys of the interior and cen-
tral region, being abandoned to the Kiiswars, D6nwars, Burro's, and other malaria-
defying tribes, which, for the present, I do not purpose to notice. The people
under review therefore may be said to occupy a highly healthful cliinate^but one
of exact temperatures as various as the several elevations (four to ten thousand
feet) of the ever- varied surface; and which, though nowhere troubled with exces-
sive heat,§ is so by excessive moisture, and by the rank vegetation that moisture
generates, with the aid of a deep fat soil, save in the Cachar or juxta-nivean re-
gion, where the lower temperature and poorer scantier soil serve somewhat to break
the prodigious transition from the thrice luxuriant sub-Himalayas to the thrice
arid plains of Tibet.
That the sub-Himalayan races are all closely affiliated, and are all of northern
origin, are facts long ago indicated by me,* and which seem to result with suffi-
cient evidence from the comparative vocabularies now furnished. But to it lingual
evidence in a more ample form will however in due time be added, as well as
the evidence deducible from the physical attributes, and from the creeds , customs
and legends of these races. It must suffice at present to observe that the legends of
the dominant races indicate a transit of the Himalaya from thirty-five to forty-five
generations back — say 1,000 to 1,300 years, and that I prefer the remoter period
because the transit was certainly made before the Tibetans had adopted from India
the religion and literature of Buddhism, in the seventh and eighth centuries of
our era. This fact is as clearly impressed upon tho crude dialects and cruder
religious tenetsj of the sub-Himalayans as their northern origin is upon their
peculiar forms and features, provided these points be investigated with the re-
quisite care ; for superficial attention is apt to rest solely upon the Lamaism re-
cently as imperfectly imported among them, and upon the merely exceptional traits
of their mixed and varying physiognomy. That physiognomy exhibits, no doubt,
generally and normally, the Scythic or Mongolian type (Blumenbach) of human
kind, but the type is often much softened and modified, and even frequently passes
into a near approach to the full Caucasian dignity of head and face, in the same
perplexing manner that has been noticed in regard to the other branches of the
Allophylian tree,§ though among the Cis- or Trans-Himalayans there is never
seen any greater advance towards the Teutonic blond complexion than such as
consists in occasional ruddy moustaches and grey eyes among the men, and a good
§ In the great valley of Nepal, which has a very central position aud a mean ele-
vation of 4,500 ft., the maximum of Fahr. iu the shade is 80°.
* Illustrations of the Languages &c. of Nepal and Tibet, and Res. A.S.B, Vol. XVI.
1827.
t Of these religious tenets, the full description given in my work on the Koech.Bodo,
and Dhimal, may be accepted as generally applicable. The Bonpa faith of Tibet (the
old creed of that country) and the Shamanism of Siberia are both more or less cultiva-
ted types of the primitive creed, subsequently largely adopted into Br&hmanism and
Buddhism. The exorcist of the Murmi or Tamar tribe is still called Bonpa, aud every
tribe's chief priestly agent is an exorcist, variously named.
§See Prichard, Vol. IV. pp. 323, 344, 356, and Humboldt's Asie Centralc 2.62
and 133. Who could suppose the following description refercd to a Scythic race ? —
lGcvs albo colore est atque pulchritudine ct forma insignc."
32 ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA.
deal of occasional bloom upon the cheeks of the children and women. A pure
white skin is unknown, and the tint is not much less decided than in the high caste
Hindus ; but all are of this pale brown or isabelline hue in Tibet and the sub-Hima-
layas, whilst the many in the plains of India are much darker. The broken or
depressed tribes above alluded to passed the Himalaya at various periods, but all
long antecedent to the immigration of the dominant tribes, and prior to the least
whisper of tradition ; and the lingual and physical traits of these broken tribes,
as might be expected, constitute several links of connexion between the Altaic
tribes on the north and the Dravirian on the south. The general description of the
Himalayans, both of earlier and later immigration is as follows : — head and face
very broad, usually widest between the cheek-bones, sometimes as wide between
the angles of the jaws ; forehead broad, but often narrowing upwards ; chin defec-
tive ; mouth large and salient, but the teeth vertical and the lips not tumid ; gums,
especially the upper, thickened remarkably ; eyes wide apart, flush with the cheek,
and more or less obliquely set in the head ; nose pyramidal, sufficiently long and
elevated, save at the base, where it is depressed so as often to let the eyes run to-
gether, coarsely formed and thick, especially towards the end, and furnished with
large round nostrils ; hair of head copious and straight ; of the face and body
deficient ; stature rather low, but muscular and strong. Character phlegmatic,
and slow in intellect and feeling, but good-humoured, cheerful and tractable, though
somewhat impatient of continuous toil. Polyandry yet exists partially, but is fal-
ling out of use. Female chastity is little heeded before marriage, and drunken-
ness and dirtiness are much more frequent than in the plains. Crime is much
rarer, however, and truth more regarded, and the character on the whole amiable.
The customs and manners have nothing very remarkable, and the creed may be
best described by negatives. Indifferency is the only, but heretofore effective ob-
stacle to indoctrination by Brahmanical, Buddhist, or Christian teachers, so that
the Scottish phrase " we cannot be fashed " seems best to describe the prevalent
feeling of the Himalayans on this, as on many other matters. The whole popu-
lation is intensely tribual, some races still bound together by a common appellation,
as the Kirantis for example, being nevertheless divided into several septs, dis-
tinguised from each other by strongly marked dialects, non-intermarriage, and dif-
ferences of customs, whilst the tribes which bear distinct names are still more pal-
pably separated in those respects. But the barrier of caste, in the true sense, is
unknown, and on the other hand there exists not in any tribe, race or nation,
any notion of a common human progenitor, or eponymous deity.* The general
status of all the tribes and races is that of nomadic cultivators. " Arva in annos
mutant et snperest ager " is as true now of the Himalayans as it was of our an-
cestors when they burst the barriers of the Roman Empire. A few tribes,
such as the NtSwar, have long become stationary cultivators ; and the Giirungs
are still, for the most part, pastoral. There are no craftsmen, generally speaking,
* The instance of the Gorkhalis, who undoubtedly derive their appellation from
the demi-God Gorakh (Goraksha) Nath, isonly a seeming exception, recent and borrowed.
ABORIGINES OP THE HIMALAYA. 35
proper to these tribes, stranger and helot races, located among them for ages un-
told, being their smiths, carpenters, curriers, potters, &c, and the women of
each tribe being its domestic weavers. The Newiirs alone have a literature, and
that wholly exotic ; and they alone have made any attempts at the fine arts, in
which they have followed chiefly Chinese, but also Indian, models.
Before concluding this notice of the Alpine Indian aborigines, it may be as well
to define summarily the limits and physical characters of their original and
adopted abodes, or Tibet and the Sub-Himalayas. Tibet is a truncated triangular
plateau, stretching obliquely from south-east to north-west, between 28° and 36°
of north latitude and 72° and 102° of east longitude. It is cold and dry in the
extreme, owing to its enormous elevation, averaging 12,000 feet above the sea, to
the still vaster height of those snowy barriers which surround it on every side, and
which on the south reach 29,000 feet, to an uncommon absence of rain and cloud,
to the extreme rarification of its atmosphere, to its saline and sandy soil, and
as a consequence of all these and a reciprocating cause too, to the excessive scanti-
ness of its vegetation. It is bounded on the south by the Hernachal, on the north
by the Kuenlun, on the west by the Belur, and on the east by the Yiinling —
all for the most part perpetually snowclad, and of which the very passes on
the south average 16,000 to 17,000 feet of elevation. Tibet is, for the most part,
a plain and a single plain, but one extremely cut up by ravines, varied much by
low bare hills, and partially divided in its length by several parallel ranges ap-
proaching the elevation of its barriers, and between the third and fourth of
which ranges stand its capitals of Lhasa and Digarchi.* These capitals are
both in the central province of the Utsang, all west of which, to the Belur, com-
poses the province of Nan, and all east of it, to Sifan, the province of Khani, pro-
vinces extending respectively to Bukharia and to China. Tibet, however arid,
is nowhere a desert, § and however secluded, is on every side accessible ; and hence
it has formed in all ages the great overland route of trade, and may even be called
the grand ethnic, as well as commercial, highway of mankind ; its central posi-
tion between China, India, and Great Bukharia having really rendered it such
for ages, before and since the historic sera, despite its snowy girdle and its bleak
aridity. Llence we learn the supreme importance of Tibet in every ethnological
regard. Its maximum length is about 1,800 miles, and maximum breadth about
480 miles 5 the long sides of the triangle are towards India and Little Bukharia ;
the short one, towards China; the truncated apex towards Great Bukharia,
where the Beliir, within the limits of Tibet, has an extent of only one degree, or
from 35° to 36° N. lat. ; whereas the base towards China, along the line of the Yun-
ling, reaches through 8° or from 28° to 36° N. lat. Just beyond the latter point,
in the north-east corner of Kharu, is Siling or Tangut, the converging point of
all the overland routes, and which I should prefer to include ethnologically within
* De Koros from native written authority apud J. A. S. B.
§ Iu the next plateau of High Asia, or that of Little Bukharia, the vast desert of Co-
bi or Gobi, which occupies the whole eastern half of that plateau, has ever formed,
and still does, a most formidable obstruction to transit aud traffic.
keI
34 ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA.
Tibet, but for the high authority of Klaproth, who insists that we have here a dis-
tinct* language and race, though certainly no such separating line in physical geo-
graphy, || Siling or Tangut being open to the plateau of Tibet as well as to those of
Little Bukharia and Songaria though demarked from China both on the north and
east by the K'i-lian and Peling respectively.
South of the whole of Tibet, as above defined, lie the Sub-Himalayas, stretching
from Gilgit to Brahmakund, with an average breadth of ninety miles, divided cli-
matically into three pretty equal transversal regions, or the northern, the central,
and the southern, the first of which commences at the ghat line of Hemackal, and
the last ends at the plains of Hindostan; the third lying between them, with
the great valley of Nepal in its centre. That valley is of a lozenge shape, about
sixteen miles in extreme length and breadth, cultivated highly throughout,
and from 4,200 to 4,700 feet above the sea. The only other valley in the whole
eastern half of the Sub- Himalayas is that of Jurnla, which is smaller and higher,
yielding barley (Hordeum celeste,) as the great valley, rice. To the west is
the large but single vale of Cashmere and the Duns, both too well known to re-
quire further remark. The sub-Himalayas form a confused congeries of enor-
mous mountains, the ranges of which cross each other in every direction, but
still have a tendency to diverge like ribs from the spine of the snows, or a
south-east and north-west diagonal, between 28° and 35°. These mountains are
exceedingly precipitous and have only narrow glens dividing their ridges, which
are remarkable for continuity or the absence of chasm and rupture and, also for
the deep bed of earth everywhere covering the rock and sustaining a matchless
luxuriance of tree and herb vegetation, which is elicited in such profusion by in-
numerable springs, rills, and rivers, and by the prevalence throughout all three re-
gions of the tropical rains in all their steadiness and intensity. There are three
or four small lakes in Kumaun situated near each other, and three or four more
in Pokra similarly juxtaposed. But in general the absence of lakes (as of level
dry tracts) is a remarkable feature of the Sub-Himalayas at present, for anciently
the great valleys of Cashmere and Nepal, with several others of inferior size,
were in a lacustrine state. The great rivers descend from the snows in nume-
rous feeders, which approach gradually and unite near the verge of the plains,
thus forming a succession of deltic basins, divided by the great snowy peaks as
water-sheds, thus : —
Basins. Peaks.
1. Alpine Gangetic basin.* Nanda-de"vi.
Dhavalagiri.
Gosain-than.
Kangchanjunga.
Chumalhari.
The Gemini, two unnamed peaks.
* Siling or Tangut is in Sok-yul or the country of the Mongol tribe.
|| It must be admitted, however, that the Pay am Khar of Klaproth seems to divide
Kham from Tangut. Klaproth cites Chinese geographers.
*See the article on "Geography of the Himalaya.''
2.
>>
Karnalic basin.
3.
»
Gandacean basin.
4.
»
Cosian basin.
5.
»
Tishtan basin.
6.
»
basin of the Monas.
ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA. 35
In the two first of these five regions, all of which are plainly indicated by the
distribution of the waters, the people are mongrel and mixed, save in the north-
west parts, where the Palu Sen or cis-nivean Bhotias, the Garhwalis, and the in-
habitants of Kanaver and Hangrang are of Tibetan stock. The third, or Gan-
dacean basin (Sapt Gandaki in native topography, from the seven chief feeders,)
is the seat of the Sunwars, Gurungs, and the Magars. The fourth, or Cosian ba-
sin, (Sapt Cousika in native topography, after the seven chief feeders,) is the abode
of the Kirantis and Limbiis. The fifth or Tishtan basin, again, is the father-
land of the Deunjongmaro, and the sixth that of the Pru or Lhopa, that is,§
Lepshas and Bhutanese, respectively. And, lastly, the high and level space — (a
system of valleys around the great one, which is nearly 5,000 ft. above the sea) —
between the basins of the Gandak and Cdsi is the seat of the Newars and Murmis.
But observe that the terms level space and system of valleys, applied to this last
tract, are merely relative, though as such significant, nor meant to be contra-
dictory of what has been above remarked, more generally, as to the whole Sub-
Himalayas. And here I should add that the best representation of the Himalayas
and Sub-Himalayas is by a comparison with the skeleton of the human frame,** in
which the former are analogous to the spine and the latter to the ribs. The
Sub-Himalayas therefore are transverse rather than parallel ridges, as above
stated, or, at all events, their main ridges diverge more or less rectangularly from
the ghat line, so as to unitise the several great streams, but still with an irregularity
which close observance of the aqueous system can alone reveal. The ruggedness
of the surface, by preventing all inter-communication of a free kind, has multi-
plied dialects : the rank pasture, by its ill effect on herds and flocks, has turned
the people's attention more exclusively than in Tibet to agriculture, though
even in Tibet the people are mostly non-nomadic,* heat and moisture, such as Ti-
bet is utterly void of, have relaxed the tone of the muscles and deepened the hue
of the skin, making the people grain-eaters and growers rather than carnivorous
tenders of flocks. Thus the Cis-Himalayans are smaller, less muscular, and less
fair than the Trans-Himalayans ; but the differences are by no means so marked
as might have been expected ; and though there are noticeable shades of distinc-
tion in this respect between the several tribes of the Cis-Himalayans according
to their special affinities, as well as between most of them and the North-men,
according to their earlier or later immigration, yet if they all be (as surely they
§Pru is the Lepsha name of the Bhutanese, whom the Hindu Shastras designate
Plava, and themselves, Lhopa.
*a Professor Miiller (apud Bunsen's Philosophy of Language), grounding on my
Essay on the Physical Geography of the Himalaya, has likened the whole to the hu-
man hand with the fingers pointing towards India. The ghat line with its great
peaks is assimilated to the knuckles, the dips between being the passes ; and the
three transverse Sub-Himalayan regions, extending from the ghats to the plains,
are likened to the three joints of the fingers.
* Within the limits of Tibet are found abundance of nomades of Mongol and Turkish
race, called respectively Sokpo and Hor by the Tibetans, who themselves seem much
mixed with the latter race, which has long exercised a paramount influence in North
Tibet : witness the facts that all its hill ranges are taghs, and all its lakes ntirs, both
Turki words.
36 ABORIGINES OF THE HIMALAYA.
are) of the same Turanian origin, it must be allowed that very striking differences
of climate and of habits, operating through very many generations, can produce
no obliterative effects upon the essential and distinctive signs of race. But this is,
in part, speculation, and I will terminate it by remarking that, for the reasons
above given, my investigations have been limited to that portion of the Sub-
Himalayas which lies between the Kali and the Dhansri, or say 8O50 to 92^° of
East longitude and 26£° to 30£° of North latitude.
ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OF NEPAL. 3^
3. ORIGIN AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE MILITARY TRIBES OF NEPAL.
(Read before the Bengal Asiatic Society, 9th January, 1833 J
The great aboriginal stock of the inhabitants of these mountains, east of the
river Kali, or in Nepal, is Turanian. The fact is inscribed, in characters so plain,
upon their faces, forms, and languages, that we may well dispense with the super-
fluous and vain attempt to trace it historically in the meagre chronicles of
barbarians.
But from the twelfth century downwards, the tide of Mussulman conquest
and bigotry continued to sweep multitudes of the Brahmans of the plains from
Hindustan into the proximate hills, which now compose the western territories of
the kingdom of Nepal. There the Brahmans soon located themselves. They
found the natives illiterate, and without faith, but fierce and proud.
Their object was to make them converts to Hinduism, and so to confirm the
fleeting influence derived from their learning and politeness. They saw that the
barbarians had vacant minds, ready to receive their doctrines, but spirits not apt
to stoop to degradation, and they acted accordingly. To the earliest and most
distinguished of their converts they communicated, in defiance of the creed they
taught, the lofty rank and honors of the Kshairiya order. But the Brahmans had
sensual passions to gratify, as well as ambition. They found the native females —
even the most distinguished — nothing loath, but still of a temper, like that of
the males, prompt to repel indignities. These females would indeed welcome
the polished Brahmans to their embraces, but their offspring must not be stigma-
tised as the infamous progeny of a Brahman and a Mlechha — must, on the con-
trary, be raised to eminence in the new order of things proposed to be introduced
by their fathers. To this progeny also, then, the Brahmans, in still greater defi-
ance of their creed, communicated the rank of the second order of Hinduism; and
from these two roots, mainly, sprung the now numerous, predominant, and exten-
sively ramified, tribe of the Khas — originally the name of a small clan of
creedless barbarians, now the proud title of the Kshatriya, or military order of
the kingdom of Nepal. The offspring of original Khas females and of Brahmans,
with the honors and rank of the second order of Hinduism, got the patronymic
titles of the first order ; and hence the key to the anomalous nomenclature of
so many stirpes of the military tribes of Nepal is to be sought in the nomenclature
of the sacred order. It may be added, as remarkably illustrative of the lofty
spirit of the Parbattias, that, in spite of the yearly increasing sway of Hinduism
in Nepal, and of the various attempts of the Brahmans in high office to procure
the abolition of a custom so radically opposed to the creed both parties now
profess, the Khas still insist that the fruit of commerce (marriage is out of the
FF
38 ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OF NEPAL.
question) between their females and males of the sacred order shall be ranked
as Kshatriyas, wear the thread, and assume the patronymic title.
The original Khas, thus favoured by it, became soon and entirely devoted to
the Brahmanical system.* The progress of Islam below daily poured fresh refu-
gees among them.
They availed themselves of the superior knowledge of the strangers to subdue
the neighbouring tribes of aborigines, were successful beyond their hopes, and,
in such a career continued for ages, gradually merged the greater part of their own
habits, ideas, and language (but not physiognomy) in those of the Hindus.
The Khas language became a corrupt dialect of Hindi, retaining not many
palpable traces (except to curious eyes) of primitive barbarism.
An authentic anecdote told me at Katkmandii confirms the origin above as-
signed to the modern Khas tribe of Nepal. In the reign of Ram Sah of Gorkha,
an ancestor of the present dynasty of Nepal, an ambassador was sent from the
Durbar of Gorkha to that of Mewar, to exhibit the Gorkhali Rajah's pedigree and
to claim recognition of alleged kindred. The head of the renowned Sesodians,
somewhat staggered with the pedigree, seemed inclined to admit the relationship,
when it was suggested to him to question the ambassador about his own caste as
a sort of test for the orthodoxy or otherwise of the notions of caste entertained
in the far distant, and, as had always at Cbitor or Udaypur been supposed, bar-
barous Himalaya. The ambassador, a Khas, who had announced himself as
belonging to the martial tribe, or Kshatriya, thus pressed, was now obliged to
admit that he was nevertheless a Pande, which being the indubitable cognomen
of a tribe of the sacred order of Hinduism, his mission was courteously dismissed
without further enquiry.
The Ehthdriahs are the descendants more or less pure of Rajputs and other
Kshatriyas of the plains, who sought refuge in these mountains from the Mos-
lem, or merely military service as adventurers. With fewer aims of policy, and
readier means in their bright swords of requiting the protection afforded them,
than had tbe Brahmans, they had less motive to mix their proud blood with that
of the vile aborigines than the Brahmans felt the impulse of, and they did mix it
less. Hence, to this hour, they claim a vague superiority over the Khas, not-
withstanding that the pressure of the great tide of events around them has, long
since, confounded the two races in all essentials. Those among the Kshatriyas of
the plains, who were more lax, and allied themselves with the Khas females in
concubinage, were permitted to give to their children, so begotten, the patronymic
title only, not the rank. But their children, again, if they married for two gene-
rations into the Khas, became pure Khas, or real Kshatriyas in point of privilege
* That is, they agreed to put away their old gods, and to take the new ; to have
Brahmans for Gurus ; and not to kill the cow : for the rest they made, and still make,
sufficiently light of the ceremonial law in whatever respects food and sexual gratification.
Their active habits and vigorous character could not brook the restraints of the ritual
law, and they had the example of licentious Brahmans to warrant their neglect of it.
The few prejudices of the Khas are useful, rather than otherwise, inasmuch as they fa-
vour sobriety and cleanliness.
ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OF NEPAL. 39
and rank, though no longer so in name ! They were Khas, not Kshatngas, and
yet they bore the proud cognoniina of the martial order of the Hindus, and were,
in the land of their nativity, entitled to every prerogative which Kshdtriya birth
confers in Hindustan !
Such is the third and less fruitful root of the Khas race.
The EMhdriahs speak the Khas language, and they speak no other.
The Thakuris differ from the Ekthdriahs only by the accidental circumstance of
their lineage being royal. At some former period, and in some little state or
other, their progenitors were princes.
The Sdhi or Sdh are the present royal family.
The remaining military tribes of the Parbattias are the Magar and Gu rung,
who now supply the greater number of the soldiers of this state.
From lending themselves less early and heartily to Brahmanical influence than
the Khas, they have retained, in vivid freshness, their original languages, physi-
ognomy, and, in a less degree, habits.
To their own untaught ears their languages differ entirely the one from the
other, and no doubt they differ materially, though both belonging to the unprono-
minalized type of the Turanian tongues. Their physiognomies, too, have pecu-
liarities proper to each, but with the general caste and character fully developed
in both. The Gurungs are less generally and more recently redeemed from Lamd-
ism and primitive impurity than the Magars.
But though both the Gurungs and Magars still maintain their own vernacular
tongues, Tartar faces, and careless manners, yet, what with military service for
several generations under the predominant Khas, and what with the commerce
of Khas males with their females,* they have acquired the Khas language, though
not to the oblivion of their own, and the Khas habits and sentiments, but with
sundry reservations in favor with pristine liberty. As they have, however, with
such grace as they could muster, submitted themselves to the ceremonial law of
purity and to Brahman supremacy, they have been adopted as Hindus. But partly
owing to the licenses above glanced at, and partly by reason of the necessity of
distinctions of caste to Hinduism, they have been denied the thread, and constituted
a doubtful order below it, and yet not Vaisya nor Sudra, but a something superior
to both the latter — what I fancy it might puzzle the Shastris to explain on Hindu
principles.
The Brahmans of Nepal are much less generally addicted to arms than those
of the plains; and they do not therefore properly belong to our present subject.
The enumeration of the Brahmans is nevertheless necessary, as serving to elu-
cidate the lineage and connexions of the military tribes, and especially of the Khas.
The martial classes of Nepal are, then, the Khas, Magar, and Giirung, each com-
* Here, as in the cases of the Brahman and Khas, and Kshatriya and Klias, there
can be no marriage. The offspring of a Khas with a Magarni or Gurungni is a titular
Khas and real Magar or Gurung. The descendants fall into the rank of their mothers
and retain only the patronymic.
40 ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OP NEPAL.
prising a very numerous race, variously ramified and sub-divided in the manner
exhibited in the following tabular statement.
The original seat of the Khas is ordinarily said to be Gdrkhd* because it was
thence immediately that they issued, some years ago, under the guidance of
Prithvi Narayan, to acquire the fame and dominion achieved by him and his suces-
sors of the Gdrkhdli dynasty.
But the Khas were long previoiisly to the age of Prithvi Narayan extensively
spread over the whole of the Chaubisya, and they are now found in every part of
the existing kingdom of Nepal, as well as in Kurnaun, which was part of Nepal
until 1816. The Khas are rather more devoted to the house of Gdrkhd, as well
as more liable to Brahmanical prej udices than the Magars or Gurungs ; and, on
both accounts, are perhaps somewhat less desirable as soldiers for our service than
the latter tribes. I say somewhat, because it is a mere question of degree ; the
Khas having, certainly, no religious prejudices, nor probably any national partiali-
ties, which would prevent their making excellent and faithful servants in arms ;
and they possess pre-eminently that masculine energy of character and love of
enterprize which distinguish so advantageously all the military races of Nepal.
The original seat of the Magars is the Bar a Mangrdnth, or Satahung, Pdyung,
Bhirkot, Dhor, Garahung, Bising, G hiring } Gdlmi, Argha, Khdehi, Miisikdt, and
Isma ; in other words, most of the central and lower parts of the mountains, between
the Bheri and Marsydndi\\ Rivers. The attachment of the Magars to the house
of Gdrkhd is but recent, and of no extraordinary or intimate nature. Still less
so is that of the Gurungs, whose native seats occupy a line of country parallel
to that of the Magars, to the north of it, and extending to the snows in that
direction. Modern events have spread the Magars and Gurungs over most part
of the present kingdom of Nepal. The Gurungs and Magars are, in the main,
Hindus, only because it is the fashion ; and the Hinduism of the Khas, in all practi-
cal and soldierly respects, is free of disqualifying punctillios.
These highland soldiers, who despatch their meal in half an hour, and satisfy
the ceremonial law by merely washing their hands and face, and taking off their
turbans before cooking, laugh at the pharisaical rigour of our Sipdhis, who must
bathe from head to foot and m&ke pujd, ere they begin to dress their dinner, must
eat nearly naked in the coldest weather, and cannot be in marching trim again
in less than three hours.
In war, the former readily carry several days' provisions on their backs : the
latter would deem such an act intolerably degrading. The former see in foreign
service nothing but the prospect of glory and spoil : the latter can discover in
it nothing but pollution and peril from unclean men and terrible wizards, goblins,
and evil spirits. In masses, the former have all that indomitable confidence, each
in all, which grows out of national integrity and success : the latter can have no
* G6rkha, the town, lies about sixty miles W.N.W. of Xathmandu. Gorkha, the
name, is derived from that of the eponymous deity of the royal family, viz. Gorak-
shanath or Gorkhanath, who likewise has given his name to our district of Gorakpur.
|| The Marichangdi of our maps.
ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OF NEPAL. 41
idea of this sentiment, which yet maintains the union and resolution of multi-
tudes'in peril, better than all other human bonds whatever; and, once tho-
roughly acquired, is by no means inseparable from service under the national
standard. ^ ^nn „ . .
I calculate that there are at this time in Jfetf no less than 30,000 Dakhreahs, of
soldiers off the roll by rotation, belonging to the above three tribes. I am not
sure that there exists any insuperable obstacle to our obtaining, in one form or
other, the services of a large body of these men; and such are their energy o
character, love of enterprize, freedom from the shackles of caste, unadulterated
military habits and perfect subj ectibility to a discipline such as ours, that 1 am
well assured their services, if obtained, would soon come to be most highly
prized.* .„ ,,
In my humble opinion they are by far the best soldiers m Asia; and if they
were made participators of our renown in arms, I conceive that their gallant spirit,
emphatic contempt of Madhesias (people of the plains,) and unadulterated mili-
tary habits, might be relied on for fidelity ; and that oar good and regular pay and
noble pension establishment would serve perfectly to counterpoise the influence
of nationality, so far as that could injuriously affect us.
The following table exhibits a classified view of the Brahnanical and military
tribes, with their various sub-divisions.
Tabular View of the Tribes.
BRAHMANS.
Avjal.
Dohal.
Dhakal.
Pondyal.
Lamsal.
Adkikari.
K banal.
Ritual.
Doeja.
Regmi.
Devakotya.
Ptukai.
Bhattrai.
Parbatya Vash.
Sywal.
Nirola.
Parbatya Misr.
Rijal,
Achiirya.
Davari.
Dhungyal,
Bhatt.
Koikyal
Loiyal.
Sapan kotya.
Nepalya.
Dotiyal.
Maharashtra.
Baral.
Kandyal.
Koirala.
Pokaryal.
Katyal.
Pakonyal.
Riipakheti.
Dangal.
Sattyal.
Khativara.
Singyal.
Bikral.
Ukniyal.
Bhattwal.
Gajniyal.
Ohavala Gai-
Vasta Gai.
Banjara.
Dagi.
Soti.
Osti.
Utkulli.
Kandariah.
Ghart mel.
■it ,„ i-Vio miiiP mid flip availability to us of the G6rk-
^aSffittSSSM «£&.« as ?
W^»T.r^%lSSOTiudteSSlof Brahman ami Kshatri Sipi-
merceries was, among other arguments, earnestly dwelt n,.on. (1857.)
ff!
42
ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OF NEPAL.
GhartyaL
Timil Sina.
Paneru.
Dulal.
Nivapanya.
Kaphalya.
Loityal.
Parajuli.
Tenirakoti.
Gaithoula.
Sigdhyal.
Bajgai.
Upkaltopi.
Gairaha Pipli.
Baral.
Satola.
Parijai Kavala.
Ghiruirya.
Gotamya.
Ghurcholi.
Homya Gai.
Simkhara.
Ghorasaini.
Kelathoni.
Champa Gai.
Phiinwal.
Risyal.
GilaL
Gura Gai.
Chanika saini.
Ohalisya.
Lahoni.
Suberi.
Pura saini.
Dhongana.
Muthbari.
Pandit.
Dhurari.
Bharari.
Teva panya.
Bhiirtyal.
Bagalya.
Bagyal.
Takuryal.
Palaini.
Gudar.
Khulal.
1st Sab-division of the Khds, called Thdpa.
Gagliya. Powar. Kkapotari.
Siiyal. Ghimirya. Parajuli.
Maharaji. Khulal. Deoja.
Lamichanya. Sunyal.
2nd Sub-division of the Khds, called Bishnydt.
Khaputari. SripalL Puwar.
3rd Sub-division, called Bhanddri.
Raghubansi. Lama. Sijapati.
Sutar.
4th Sub-division, called Kdrki.
Lama. Mundala.
Khulal.
Powar.
5th Sub-division, called Khdnka.
Maharaji. Party al. Lakanggi. Lamichanya,
Kalikotya, Khaputari. Palpali.
Khulal.
Gth Sub-division, or Adhikari.
Tharni. Tharirai. Pokrial.
Dhami. Khadhsena.
1th Sub-division, or Bisht,
Kalikotya. Puwar.
8th Sub-division, or Kunwdr.
Bagalya. Khulal. Khanka.
9th Sub-division, or Baniah.
Sijapati.
Musiah.
Thakuri.
Dahal.
Arjal.
Pande.
Dhakal.
Sakhtyal.
ON THE MILITARY TRICES OP NEPAL.
10^ Sub-division^ or Ddni.
Sijapati. Powar.
11th Sub-division, or Gharti*
Kalikotya. Sijapati.
12^ Sub-division, or Khattri.
Khuldl. Lainichanya. Tewari.
Panth. Poryal. Phanyal.
Bural. Arjal. Sapkotya.
43
Bhongyal.
Loyal.
Lamsal.
Khukriyal.
Dangal.
Sikkmiyal.
Bhiryal.
Pouryal.
Bikral.
Kanhal.
Batyal.
Ganjal.
Suveri.
Adhikari.
Silwal.
True Khds
Sijal.
Parsai.
Am Gai.
Baj Gai.
Dahal.
Deakota.
Garhtola.
Seora.
Balya.
Gilal.
Ckonial.
Res'ini
not yet classified.
Satoitya.
Khatiwata.
Chalatani.
Kilatkoni.
Satya Gai.
Alphaltopi.
Osti.
Bhatt Ojka.
Tewari.
Porseni.
Iloinya Gai.
Tunirakot.
Rupakheti.
Chouvala Gai.
Bhatt Rai.
Naopanya.
Mini Bkiis.
Soti.
Parij ai Kawala,
Bainankotya.
Kadariah.
Kala Khattri.
Dkungana.
Pungyal.
ekthaeya, or insulated Tribes ranking with Khds.
Biirathoki. Chohan. Bohara. Kutal. Raya. Boghati.
Chiloti. Dikshit. Ravat. Khatit. Dangi. Pandit.
Katwal. Bavan. Raimanjhi. Parsai. Khati. Mahat.
Bhukhandi. Chokhal Maghati. Barwal, Bhusal. Chohara. Durrah.
thaktjri, or Royal Lineages, ranking with Khds.
Sahi. Singh. Chand. Jiva. Malla. Maun.
Hamal. Rakhsya. Sena. Chohan. Ruchal.
MAGAKS.
I. — Sub-division of the Magars, called Rdnd,
Bhusal. Gyangmi. Byangnasi. Kyapchaki.
Pulanii. Phyuyali. Durra Land. Yahayo.
Lainichanya. Maski. Sara. Pusal.
Charnii. Arghounle. Thada. Dutt.
Aslami.
Gacha.
Gandharma,
* Manumitted slaves are called Pargharti, if of Khas lineage. They form a separata
and rather numerous class, and so also do the Khawas or manumitted slaves of royalty.
44
ON THE MILITARY TRIBES OP NEPAL.
II. — Sub-division of Maffars, called Thdpa.
Granja.
Chumi.
Keli. Bareya.
Namjali.
Liingeli.
Jhangdi.
Maski. Darrlami.
Sunari.
Yangdi,
Phyuyali.
Marsyangdi. Ckitouriah.
Jhari.
Arghouuli.
Gelum?,
Sinjali. Sara.
Rijai.
III. — Sub-division of Maffars, called Alaya.
Yangnii.
Sarangi.
PCmg. Lamjal.
Surya Vana.
Gonda.
Sripali.
Suyal. Khali.
Dukkchaki.
Sijapati.
Pautlii.
Tbokcbaki. Ming.
Gharti.
JRakhal.
Sithung.
Maski. Lamichanya. Palami.
Lahakpa.
Argliounle.
Kbaptari. Phyuyali. Kyapcbaki.
Duma.
Khulal.
Cberrni. Pacbain.
GURUNGS.
Gurung,
Laruichanya
Kbaptari.
Tange.
Ghalle.
Siddh.
Gbundane.
Ghonya.
Byapri.
Karaniati.
Dharen.
Paindi.
Vumjan.
Gosti.
Jimel.
Mengi.
Laina.
Bagalva.
Lopate.
Dab Lama.
Chandii.
Thathung.
Lotbang.
Kurangi.
Gothi.
Charki.
Bulling.
Khulal.
Gonduk.
Khati.
Sbakya Lama.
Surya Vansi Lama
Gohori.
Guaburi.
Golangya.
Madan.
Baraki.
Pengi.
Khangva.
Palami.
Gharti
Dhakaren
4. ON THE CHEPANG AND KUSUNDA TRIBES OF NEPAL.
(See Journal Asiatic Society Bengal, 1857. )
Amid the dense forests of the central region of Nepal, to the westward of
the great valley, dwell, in scanty numbers, and nearly in a state of nature, two
broken tribes, having no apparent affinity with the civilized races of that country,
and seeming like the fragments of an earlier population.
" They toil not, neither do they spin :" they pay no taxes, acknowledge no alle-
giance, but, living entirely upon wild fruits and the produce of the chase, are wont
to say that the Rajah is Lord of the cultivated country, as they are of the
unredeemed waste. They have bows and arrows, of which the iron arrow-heads
are procured from their neighbours, but almost no other implement of civilization,
and it is in the very skilful snaring of the beasts of the field and the fowls of the
air that all their little intelligence is manifested.
Boughs torn from trees and laid dexterously together constitute their only
houses, the sites of which they are perpetually shifting according to the exigencies
or fancies of the hour. In short, they are altogether as near to what is usually
called the state of nature as anything in human shape can well be, especially the
Kusundas, tor the Chepangs are a few degrees above their confreres, and are begin-
ning to hold some slight intercourse with civilized beings and to adopt the most
simple of their arts and habits. It is due, however, to these rude foresters to say,
that, though they stand wholly aloof from society, they are not actively offensive
against it, and that neither the Government nor individuals tax them with any
aggressions against the wealth they despise, or the comforts and conveniences they
have no conception of the value of.
They are, in fact, not noxious but helpless, not vicious but aimless, both morally
and intellectually, so that no one could, without distress, behold their careless un-
conscious inaptitude. It is interesting to have opportunity to observe a tribe so
circumstanced and characterized as the Chepangs, and I am decidedly of opinion
that their wretched condition, physical and moral, is the result, not of inherent
defect, but of that savage ferocity of stronger races which broke to pieces and
outlawed both the Chepang and the Kusiinda tribes during the ferocious ethnic
struggles of days long gone by, when tribe met tribe in internecine strife, con-
tending for the possession of that soil they knew not how to fructify ! Nor is
there any lack of reasonable presumptions in favour of this idea, in reference to the
Chepangs at least; for the still traceable affiliation of this people (as we shall
soon see), not less than the extant state of their language, demonstrates their
once having known a condition far superior to their present one, or to any that has
been theirs for ages.
46 THE CHEPANG AND KUSUNDA TRIBES.
That the primitive man was a savage has already appeared to me an unfounded
assumption ; whereas that broken tribes deteriorate lamentably, we have several
well-founded instances in Africa.* Quitting, however, these speculations, I proceed
with my narrative. During a long residence in Nepal, I never could gain the
least access to the Kusiindas, though aided by all the authority of the Durbar ;
but, so aided, I once, in the course of an ostensible shooting excursion, persuaded
some Chepangs to let me see and converse with them for three or four days
through the medium of some Gurungs of their acquaintance. On that occasion I
obtained the accompanying ample specimen of their language; and, whilst they
were doling forth the words to my interpreters, I was enabled to study and to
sketch the characteristic traits of their forms and faces. Compared with the
mountaineers among whom they are found, the Chepangs are a slight but not actually
deformed race, though their large bellies and thin legs indicate strongly the
precarious amount and innutritious quality of their food. In height they are
scarcely below the standard of the tribes around them|| — who however are notori-
ously short of stature — but in colour they are decidedly darker. They have elon-
gated (fore and aft) heads, protuberant large mouths, low narrow foreheads,
large cheek-bones, flat faces, and small eyes. But the protuberance of the mouth
does not amount to prognathous deformity,} nor has the small suspicious eye much,
if anything, of the Mongolian obliqueness of direction or set in the head. Having
frequently questioned the Durbar, whilst resident at Kathmandu, as to the relations
and origin of the Chepangs and Kusiindas, I was invariably answered, that no one
could give the least account of them, but that they were generally supposed to be
autochthones, or primitive inhabitants of the country. For a long time such also
was my own opinion, based chiefly upon their physical characteristics as above
noted, and upon the absence of all traceable lingual or other affinity with the tribes
around them ; so that I took the Chepangs, the Kusiindas, and also the Hai-
yUS§ — a third tribe, remarkably resembling the two former in position and appear-
ance— to be fragments of an original hill population prior to the present domi-
nant races of inhabitants of these mountains, and to be of Tamulian extraction,
from their great resemblance of form and colour to the aborigines of the plains,
particularly the Kols or Uraons, the Mundas, and the Males. It did not for
several years occur to me to look for lingual affinities beyond the proximate tribes,
nor was I, save by dint of observation, made fully aware that the Turanian type of
mankind belongs not only to the races of known Northern pedigree, such as the
*Prich. Phys. Hist. Vol. II. passim. Scott's exquisite novels throw much light on
this subject.
|| Magar, Murmi, Khas, Gurung, Newar.
% It tends that way, however : and the tendency is yet more strongly marked in some
of the broken Turanian tribes of Central India; so that the general effect upon the North-
men of their descent into the least healthy and malarious jungles and swamps of the
tropics, would seem to be to cause the Turanian type of human kind to assimilate with
the African type, hut with a long interval: degradation and hardship may in these
broken tribes facilitate the effects of hail climate.
S Ilaivu, Havu vel Vayu. See full treatise on this people in Jour. As. Soc. Bengal.
Also vocabularies ot the Chepung and Kusiinda tongues.
THE CHEPANG AND KUSUNDA TKIBES. 47
mass of the sub-Himalayan population, but equally so to all the aborigines of
tbe plains, at least to all those of Central India. Having-, of late, however, be-
come domiciled much to the eastward of Kathmandii, and having had more leisure
for systematic and extended researches, those attributes of the general subject,
which had previously perplexed me, were no longer hindrances to me in the in-
vestigation of any particular race or people. I now saw in the Turanian features
of the Ohepangs a mark equally reconcileable with Tamulian or Tibetan affinities ;
in their dark colour and slender frame, characteristics at first sight, indeed, rather
Tamulian than Tibetan, but such as might, even in a Tibetan race, be accounted
for by the extreme privations to which the Ohepangs had for ages been subject ;
and in their physical attributes taken together, I perceived that I had to deal with
a test of affinity too nice and dubious to afford a solution of the question of
origin.* I therefore turned to the other or lingual test ; and, pursuing this branch
of the enquiry, I found that, with the Southern aborigines, there was not a
vestige of connection, whilst to my surprise I confess, I discovered in the lusty§
Lhopas of Bhutan the unquestionable origin and stock of the far removed, and
physically very differently characterized, Ohepangs ! This lingual demonstration
of identity of origin, I have, for the reader's convenience, selected and set apart
as an appendix to the vocabulary of tbe Chepang language ; and I apprehend that
all persons conversant with ethnological enquiries will see in the not mere resem-
blance, but identity, of thirty words of prime use and necessity extracted from
so limited a field of comparison as was available for me to glean from, a sufficient
prcof of the asserted connextion and derivation of the Ohepangs, notwithstand-
ing all objections deducible from distance, dissolution of intercourse, and phy-
sical non-conformity. But observe, the last item of difference is, as already inti-
mated, not essential, but contingent, for both Lhopas and Ohepangs are of
the same, essentially Turanian stamp, whilst the deteriorations of vigour and of
colour in the Ohepangs, though striking, are no more than natural, nay inevitable,
consequences of the miserable condition of dispersion and outlawry to which the
Ohepangs have been subject for ages anterior to all record or tradition. And, again,
with regard to local disseveration, it should be well noted, in the first place, that
* See addendum on Bhutan.
§ 1 am now satisfied that the source of my perplexity lay in the common Turanian
origin of all the tribes adverted to, which differ physically or lingually only in degree
— physically, according to their earlier or later immigration and more or less health-
ful and temperate new abodes ; lingually, also, according to their more special affinity
with the less or with the more simple-tongued tribes or sub-families of the North.
The oldest tribes of Himalaya, as sufficiently proved by their relative condition and
location, are the broken tribes driven to the inclement summits or malarious glens of
the Himalaya ; and these in general have languages of the pronomenalized or complex
sub-type, so that Miiller is wholly wrong in assuming that Himalaya has no lingual traits
of Draviria* — wrong also, 1 think, in the importance assigned to these contiadistinc-
tive marksof race. In proof see Poole on Egyptian language Jour. Royal As. Society, Vol.
xx., part 34, p.p 313, el seq : the two dialects of the one tongue have a different
arrangement of the pronom. adjunct of nouns and verbs. It must be, after this, almost
needless to add that the relationship of the Chepangs to the Lhopas is general, not
special.
8 Neither Tamil nor Telugu nor Kannadi possesses in like perfection this diagnostic
pronomenalization of noun and of verb (viz., prefixed to noun, and suffixed to verb.)
48 THE CI1EPANG AXD KUSUNDA TRIBES.
by how much the Chepangs are, and have long been, removed from Bhutan, by
so much exactly do conformities of language demonstrate identity of origin, because
those conformities cannot be explained by that necessary contact with neighbours
to which the Chepang language, owes, of course, such Hindi, Parbattia, and Ne-
war terms as the vocabulary exhibits ; and, in the second place, we must recol-
lect, that though it be true that 300 miles of very inaccessible country divide the
seat of the Chepangs from Bhutan, and moreover, that no intercourse therewith
has been held by the Chepangs for time out of mind, still in those days when
tribes and nations were, so to speak, in their transitional state, it is well known that
the tides of mankind flowed and ebbed with a force and intensity comparable
to nothing in recent times, and capable of explaining far more extraordinary phae-
nomena than the disruption of the Chepangs, and their being hurried away, like
one of the erratic boulders of geologists, far from the seat of the bulk of their
race and people. Indeed, the geological agents of dislocation in the days of pris-
tine physical commotion may throw some light, in the way of analogy, upon the
ethnological ones during the formative eras of society ; and though we have no re-
cord or tradition of a Lhopa conquest or incursion extending westward, so far as, or
even towards, the great valley of Nepal, we may reasonably presume that some
special clan or sept of the Bhiitanese was ejected by an ethnic cataclysm from
the bosom of that nation and driven westward under the ban of its own com-
munity alike, and of those with which it came in contact in its miserable migra-
tion,— for misfortune wins not fellowship.
The lapse of a few generations will probably see the total extinction of the Che-
pangs and Kusiindas, and therefore I apprehend that the traces now saved from
oblivion of these singularly circumstanced and characterized tribes, now for the
first time named to Europeans, will be deemed very precious by all real stu-
dents of ethnology. Their origin, condition and character are, in truth, ethnic
facts of high value, as proving how tribes may be dislocated and deteriorated
during the great transitional eras of society.
ADDENDUM ON BHUTAN.
Lho is the native name for Bhutan, and Lhopa and Dukpa (written Briikpa)
are native names for an inhabitant of Bhutan — whereof the former is the territorial,
the latter, the religious, designation. In other words, a Lhopa is one belonging to
the country of Bhutan, and a Dukpa (recti Briikpa), a follower of that form of
Lamaism which prevails in Bhutan, and which has become equally distinctive
with the local designation for an inhabitant of the country, since the people of
Bhot or Tibet were converted to the new or Gehikpa form of that faith.
Bhutan is a Sanskrit word, and is correctly Bhiitant, or ' the end of Bhot ' (in-
clusively), the Brahmans, like the natives, deeming the cisnivean region an inte-
gral part of Tibet, which it is ethnographically, though by no means geographi-
cally. Had Klaproth and Bitter been aware that Lho is Bhutan, and Lhopa
THE CIIEPANG AND KUSUNDA TRIBES.
49
an inhabitant of Bhutan, we should not have had their maps disfigured by a
variety of imaginary regions placed east of Bhutan and termed Lokabadja, etc.,
a sheer variorum series of lingual error, resting on the single local name Lho
and its derivatives of a personal kind, as correctly and incorrectly gathered by
them. Originally, some Bengali rendered Lho by the — to him — familiar word
Lok (regio); and then, being unaware that the Tibetan affix bd velpd means 'belong-
ing to,' 'inhabitant of,' he subjoined to the bd his own equivalent of jd (born of),
and thus was deduced Klaproth's furthest error (I omit others short of this
one) of Lokabadja. To trace an error to its source is the best way to prevent its
repetition, an aphorism I add, lest any person should suppose me wanting in
respect for the eminent persons whose mistakes I have pointed out. Klaproth
was possibly misled by Hastings' letters to and from Teshiilungba. * But he and
Bitter are fairly chargeable with constant creation of new regions out of mere
synonyma ! I could give a dozen of instances from their splendid maps.
VOCABULARY OF THE LANGUAGE
OF THE CHEPASTG.
English.
Chcpdiig.
English.
Clicpang.
The world
A bridge
Ta
God
jNyaniDing
Husband
Palam
Man
Pursi
Wife
Malam
Woman
Miru
Father
Pa
Quadruped
Sva
Mother
Ma
Bird
M6-wa
Brother
Hou
Bisect
Pling
Sister
Hou dhiang
Fish
Gna T
Grand-father
To
Fire
MiT
Grand-mother
Aie
Aii-
Mard
Uncle
Pang
Earth
SaT
Aunt
Mum
Clay, plastic
Sa lena
Child
Cho
Water
Ti
Boy
Cho
Light, (lux)
Angha
Girl
Cho riang
The sun
Nyain T
Kinsfolk
Laikwo
The moon
Lame T
Strangefolk
Saing
The stars
Ear T
Day
Nyi Gni T
A mountain
Bias T
Night
Ya
A plain
Dani
Dawn
Wago
A river
Ghoro
Noon
Syawa
A ferry
Titachaparna ? (ford)
Evening
Nyam ram a
* See Turner's Embassy and native account of Bhutan, in the Transactions of the
A.S.B. The affix Ihung means 'valley, ' and Lhasa also, being 'in a valley,' it is often
called Lhasa-lhungpa or lhuniba, that is, Lhasa of the Valley.
X Nyam is the Sun, which is no doubt worshipped, and hence the identity of
terms. Nyi in Chinese.
GG
5°
THE CHEPAN<
English.
Chepdng.
To-day
Ten
Yesterday-
Yon
To-morrow
Syang
A week
A fortnight
Bakha yatla.
A month
Yatla
A year*
Yatang
Summer
Lhapa
A quail
Umba-wa
A kite or hawk
Md-waf
A fly
Yang
Winter
Namj ung
The rains
Nyaniwa
Grain
Yam
Rice, unhusked
Yang
Rice, husked
Chui
Wheat
Kan
BarleyJ
Plantain
Maise
Pear
Pa-sai
Tobacco
Mingo
Pepper
Marich II
Red pepper
Raksai
Garlick
Bin
Oil
Sate
A tree
Sing-tak T
A leaf
L6T
A flower
R6
A fruit
Chai
Wood
Sying T
Fuel
Jharo sying
Grass
Straw
Won
Bran
Rock
A horse
Serang
An ox
Shya
A bull
You shya
A cow
Mo shya
A buffalo
Misha T
A dog
KuiT
A cat
AND KUSUNDA TRIBES.
* The separate twelve months and seven
+ Wa is the generic of birds of the fowl
X No other grain named, but wheat and r
English.
Chepdng.
A monkey
Yukh
A jackal
Karj a
A tiger
Ja
A leopard
Mayo j a
A bear
Yom
A goat
Micha
A sheep
....
A hare
A hog, pig
PiakT
An elephant
Kisi N
A deer
Kasya
A rat
Yd
A mouse
Mayo yu
A manis
Chang j ung
A fowl (gallus}
i Wa
Its egg
Wa-kun
A pigeon
Bak-wa
A crow
Kawa
A sparrow
Yiirkunwa
A lark
Bajii wa
A partridge
Tithara H
Cord, thin
Rhim
Thread
Mayo rhim (ma-
yo=small)
Needle
Gyap
A bee
Tumba
The human body Mha
The head
Tolong
The hair
Min
The face
Khen
The forehead
Jyed
The eye
MikT
The nose
Gn6 Ny6
The mouth
Mothong
The chin
Kam-tyd
The ear
N6T
The arm
Krut
The hand
Kiitpa,
The leg
Bom
The foot
The belly
Tukh
days have no names.
kind.
ice.
THE
CHEPANG
English.
Chipdng.
Bone
Rhus T
Blood
Wi
Blood-vessel
So
A house
KyimT
A door
Khar ok
A stone
Bang
A brick
A temple
Ding thani
An idol
Simta
A boat
Dinner
Amjia
A dish
L6
A plate
Mila
Flesh
Mai
Bread
Lang
Vegetables
Kyang
Honey
Turn
Wax
MainP
Milk
Gmiti
Gheu
Gheu H
Cloth
Nai
Clothes, apparel
Nai
Bed clothes
Lou
Upper vest
Doura
Lower vest
Siimba
Shoe
Panai P
Stocking
Docha P
Wool, raw
Min
Cotton, ditto
Kapas H
Hemp, ditto
Kyou
Bow
Liii
Arrow
Lah T
Axe
Warhe
Spade, hoe
Taik
Plough
You sing
Loom
Knife
Phia ghiil
Brush, broom
Phek
Basket
Tokorong
Rope, thick
Ra
Beer
Han
Spirits
Rakski P
A still
Kuti pong
AND
KUSUNDA TRIBES
5
English.
CMpdng.
The senses
Touching-
Dinang
Smelling
Gnamang
Seeing
Yorsang
Hearing
Saisung
Pen
Re syang
Ink
Hildang
Sovereign
Rajah H
Subject
Parja H
Citizen
Berang mo
Countryman,
rustic
6 moy
Soldier
Gal moy
Villager
Desing moy
Priest
Jhakri
Physician
Chime
Druggist
Osa yilong
Master
Sing chopo
Servant
Mayo (small)
Slave
Grang
Cultivator
Kcimin chara
Cowherd
Gothala H
Carpenter
Bing kami N
Blacksmith
Kami N
Weaver
Naik yousa
Spinner
Rhim rhousa
Tailor
Rnpsa
Basket- master
Grang kioni
Currier
Piin riipo
Tanner
Piin lai
Cotton-dresser
Rhim rhowan
Iron
Phalam P
Copper
Tamba H
Lead
Sisa II
Gold
Liang
Silver
Riipa H
Rain
Nyong wa,
Frost
Chepii
Snow
Rapang
Ice
Chepii
Fog
Khasii
Lightning
Marang
Thunder
Maranh miira
52
English.
A storm
A road
A path
Chepdng.
Marhii
LiamT
Mayo liana
THE CHEPANG AND KUSUNDA TRIBES.
English.
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Half
The whole
A spring (water) Tishakwo
Trade
Capital
Interest
Coin
Robbery
Theft
Murder
Cultivated field
City or town
Village
Horn
Ivory
Stupid
Honest
Dishonest
Great
Small
Heavy
Light, (levis)
Tasting
Hunger
Thirst
Disease
Medicine
Fever
Dysentery
Small-pox
Fear
Hope
Love
Hate
Grief, sorrow
Joy
One
Two
Three
Yinlang
Has
Cho
Tanka H
Latilang
Ditto
Jensatang
Kiityalang
Blu
Berang
Desi
RongT
Laik
Waiva chul
Waha pina
Wada pilo
Bronto
Maito, mayo
Lito
Some, any
Many
None
Near
Far
Blind
Lame
Dumb
Deaf
Clean
Dirty
Strong
Weak
Good
Bad
Ugly
Handsome
Young
Old
Clever
To stand up
To sleep
To wake
To give
To take
To lend
To borrow
To buy
Black
White
Green
Blue
* Sa I think is the infinitive sign, and ting, the participial
should appear uniformly here. Query
Youngsang*
Rung
Kiop
RogH
OsaN
Aimang
Boarlang
Broni
Rai
Aphro
Mharlang
Ghrim nang
Manbkaning
Yang nang
Ya-zho**
Nhi-zho T
Sinn-zho T
: [Zho is evidently the sho ' number,
and
Sa the sign of neuter verbs,
of the Chinese. J.S.]
Chcp&ng.
Phoi-zho
Piima-zho
Krvik-zho
Chana-zho
Prap-zho
Taku-zho
Gyib-zho
Bakh
Yagur
Jho
Domanalo
Loko
Dyangto
Mikchangna
Domtonga
Nosa chiil
Nosa mal
Bhangto
Galto
Jokto
Joklo
Pito
Pilo
Pilo
Dyangto
Dyting mai
Burha H
Chimo
Chingsa
Ydmsa
Tyoksa
Biiisa T
Lisa T
Biiisa
Lisa
Yingsa
Galto
Pkamto
Phelto
Galto
' or
other
THE CHEPANG AND
English.
Tibetan.
Red
Ditto
Yellow-
Yerpo
Sweet
Nimto
Sour
Nimlo
Straight
Dhimto
Crooked
Dongto
Hot
Dhato
Cold
Yestho
Dark
Light, luminous
Takto
Great
Bronto
Greater
Mhak talto
Greatest
Mhak talto
Small
Maito
Smaller
Cholam
Smallest
Cholam
To stand
Chimsa
To fall
Chonsa
To walk
Whasa
To run
Kisa
To climb
Jyaksaf
To question
Hotsa
To answer
Dyengnuksa
To request
Bajkinang?*
To refuse
Bainanglo ?
n %nt
Kaichinsa
„ kiss
Chopchisa
„ laugh
Nhisa
v cry
Rhiasa
„ eat
Jhisa
,, drink
Tiimsa
„ talk
Khosa
„ be silent
Ashimanga
KUSUNDA TRIBES.
Lh&pa.
To shit
„ piss
„ ascend
„ descend
„ cut
„ break
„join, unite
„ jump
„ sit down
„ write
„ read
» sing |
„ dance
„ lie down
„ get up
„ tell a falsehood
„ see
„ sell
„ exchange
n live
„ die
„ reap
„ sow
„ thresh
„ winnow
„ hear
„ taste
„ smell
„ touch
„ count
„ measure
„ remember
' n foi'g'et
53
Chepdng.
Yt5sa
Chiisa
Jyaksa*
Piisa
Stalchisa
Tk4sa
Chosa
Jyesa
Musa
Resa
Brosa
Mansa
Syaksa
Eontimusa
Hekaksa
Chesa, yorsa
Yinlangalsa
Gy^sa
Rasa
Warsa
Rhapsa
Krapsa
SaisaJ
Lyemsa
Namsa
Dimsa
Thengsa
Kriisa
Mhardangsa
Mhoiyangsa
N.B. — TpoBtfixed indicates a Tibetan etymon for the word, H Hindi origin, P Par-
rbattia or Khas, and N Newar ditto. It was not in my power to do more than collect
Tocables. I could not ascertain the structure: but comparing all the words, I conceive the
anomalies of the verbs may be set right by assuming sd to be the infinitival sign, and
dug, varied to chang, yang, and rang, the participial one. — B. H. H.
* These should be Chesa and Saisa I apprehend ; and so of the rest,
t If, as I suppose, Sa be the infinitival sign, there must be error, and the rather
that all the verbs should have one form. A'ng, I think, is the participial sign.
54 THE CHEPANG AND KUSUNDA TRIBES.
List of Chepdng Words derived from the Tibetan Language,
and specially the Bhutanese Dialect of it.
English,
Tibetan.
Llwpa.
Chepdng.
Eye
Mig
Mik
Sun
Nyima
Nyim
Nyam
Sky
Nainkkah
Nam
Nam
Ear
No
Navo
Mountain
Hi
Kong
Rias
Star
Karma
Kam
Kar
Tree
Shing
Shing
Sing-tak
Wood
Shing
Shing
Sing
Leaf
L6-ma
L6
Salt
Thsa
Chha
Chhe
Road
Lain
Lam
Liani
House
Khyini
Khim
Kyini
Moon
sLava (pron.
Da-va) ....
Larue"
Borie
Ruspa
Rhus
Fire
Me
Mi
Mi
Arrow
Dah
Dah
Lah
Dog
Khyi
Khi
Km
Buffalo
Maiii S
Meshi
Misha
Day
....
Nyim
Nyi
Earth
....
sa
Sa
Fish
Nya
Gna
Gna
Hog
Phag
Phag
Piak
Horn
Ra
Rong
Rong
Two
Nyis
Nyi
Nhi-zho§
Three
Sum
Sum
Num-zho
Give
Buh
Bin
Bui
Take
Lan
Ling
Li
§ Zho is an enumerative servile affix, like thampa in the decimal series of Tib etan.
5. A CURSORY NOTICE OP NAYAKOTE
AND OF THE REMARKABLE TRIBES INHABITING IT.
Nayakote, or the Hither Nayakote, as it is often called, to distinguish it from
Nayakote of theChoubisi, is the name of a petty town and district lying W. N.
W., seventeen miles from Kathmandii, by the high road to Gorkha. The town (so
to speak) is situated at the northern extremity of the district, upon a spur
descending south-westerly from Mount Dhaibung, or Jibjibia, at about a mile dis-
tant from the River Trisool on the west, and the same from the River Tadi, or
Surajmatti, on the south and east. The town consists of from sixty to a hundred
pakka three-storied houses, in the Chinese style of Kathmandii, chiefly owned by
the court and chiefs; of a durbar, called the upper, to distinguish it from the lower
one on the banks of the Tc4di ; and of a temple to Bhairavi, all in the like style
of architecture. The town forms only a single street, lying in an indentation on
the crest of the ridge, and is consequently not visible from below on any side, though
the durbar and temple, from being placed higher, are so partially. Nayakote, up
to the late war with the English, was the winter residence of the present dynasty
of Nepal ; but as the situation of the town is bleak and uncomfortable at that
season, the court and chiefs then usually resided in mansions still standing at
the base of the hill towards the Tadi, but now a good deal dilapidated, like the
town residences, owing to the court having been stationary at Kathmandii since
1813. The district, like the edifices of the great, bears marks of neglect, which
are the more palpable, by reason of a considerable portion of it being devoted
to gardens and orchards, the property in a great measure of the owners of those
edifices. The elevation of the town above the level of the Trisool must be from
800 to 1,000 feet, and the effect of this elevation in concealing it is aided on the
side towards the Tadi by a fine forest of saul-trees occupying the whole decli-
vity. On other aspects, the said-trees, inherent to the whole site, are reduced to
scrubby brushwood, by perpetual injudicious cutting and defoliation, the leaves
being used as plates to eat from, and being perpetually carried to Kathmandii
for sale there. This ridge has a soil of a deep red clay and its general form is
rounded, but broken by deep ruts and ravines in most directions. Towards the
Trisool west, and towards the Tadi south and east, the declivity of the ridge of
Nayakote is precipitous; but towards the junction of the two streams, in a south
westerlv direction, the hill falls off more gently, and about 1| mile below the town
spreads into an undulating plain, which occupies almost the whole space between
the rivers to their junction and the ridge on which the town stands. This tract
may be represented as a nearly equilateral triangle, two of the sides of which are
56 NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES.
formed by the rivers, and the third by the ridge. This triangle is a plain, ex-
clusive of the declining spur of the ridge, and is an elevated plain, exclusive of that
north-easterly angle lying on either side the Tadi, towards and to its junction
with the Sindhu at the base of Bhalu Danra. This north-east corner is on the
level of the rivers ; the other parts are variously from one to four hundred feet
above that level ; and together they constitute the chief part and body, as it
were, of the valley of Nayakote, the rest or legs (so to speak with some aptness) of
the district being the glens of the Tadi and of the Sindhu as far upwards, res-
pectively, as the confluence of the Likhu and the base of Burmandi. The moun-
tain ridges enclosing the district of Nayakote, as above defined, are, beginning
with the Nayakote ridge itself, and circling east back again to \t — Maha
Mandal Nerja (north of Tadi,) Kabilas (dividing the Tadi and the Likhu), Bhalu
(dividing the Likhu and the Sindhu), Dang-mai or Burmandi Madanpore, and
Ghoor (enclosing the glen of the Sindhu on the south), Belkote (carrying on
the same southern barrier down the Tadi to Devi Ghat), Jhiltoong (below the
Ghat but still on the south of the river), Thirkiab (opposite to Jhiltoong on
the north of, and across, the river), and Gowri and Samari-bhanjang (running
northerly up the Trisool to the Sanga, or bridge at Khinchat), where we complete
the circuit by linking the last to the Nayakote ridge, the two in that spot pressing
close on either bank of a river. With regard to size, if we speak of this tract as a
whole, it will not be easy to be at once precise and distinct ; but we may observe
in regard to the body of the district, inclusive of the north-east corner on the low
level, that fxoin Devi Ghat direct up the Trisool to the Sanga at Khinchat the
length is four miles, by the road five miles ; from Devi Ghat to the town of
Nayakote from four to five miles, through the middle of the elevated portion of
the district; from Devi Ghat up the Tadi to its junction with the Sindhu, four
miles and the same from the latter point to Khinchat across the base of the
triangle, from the Tadi to [the Trisool ; again, and inclusively of the legs of the dis-
trict, from Devi Ghat to Burmandi, up the glens of the Tadi and the Sindu, is six
miles ; and from the same point up the Tadi to its junction with the Likhu,
eight miles. The maximum breadth of the entire district is at the base of the tri-
angle just adverted to, and here the distance by the road from Bhalu Danra to
Khinchat is four miles. The mean maximum of breadth, however, is not above
three miles ; that of the plateau alone, between the principal river, two miles.
But, in speaking of breadths especially, we should distinguish between those
parts which have been called the legs and the body of the district, the legs being
the subsidiary vales of the Sindhu and of the Tadi. The former of these,
then, from the base of Burmandi to the apex of the Bhalu ridge, where this glen
merges in the larger one of the Tadi, is only from two hundred to four hundred
yards wide ; whilst the width of the vale of the Tadi in that portion of it
which extends lengthwise from the apex of the Bhalu ridge to that of Kabilas
at Choughora, is from half to three-quarters of a mile ; and, if we distinguish (as
well we may) the low tract lying on both banks of the Tadi, between the western
extremity of the two last-named divisions, and the point where the Tadi gets
NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES. 57
compressed into a mere gully on the upper confines of Belkote (forming the
north-east corner just spoken of inclusively,) we have a third tract, which is
some 1,200 yards in medium breadth. The length, again, of the first of the sub-
divisions of Nayakote is two miles; of the second, four miles; of the third, one mile.
All these three are tracts of the same character, that is, they are hot, swampy
rice beds on the level of the streams that water thein, except in the instance
of the glen of the T;idi, which, upon the right bank of the river, possesses a
widish strip of land considerably raised above the stream, and running under
the Maha Mandal and Nayakote ridges (where the court and chiefs have houses)
to where the latter spreads into the chief elevated plain of the district above spoken
of. That plain cannot be watered from the Trisool or Tadi by reason of its
elevation ; and as the Nayakote ridge, whence it is derived, yields no efficient
springs of water, the plain is condemned to exclusive dependance on rain. Every
such plain or plateau is, in the language of Nepal, a Tar; whereas the lower and
perpetually waterable tracts, above contra-distinguished, are, in the same lan-
guage, called Biasi. The first of the three is the Sindhu Biasi, from the name
of its streamlet, the Sindhu ; the next the Tadi Biasi, from its river ; and the
third, either Tadi Biasi also, or Sanguni Biasi, from the conflueuce of the Sindhu
and Tadi within it. The Tar, or chief tract, is numerously sub-appellated, as
Pullo Tar, next Devi Ghat; then Manjki Tar; then Bur Tar, next the Nayakote
hill ; with various others parallel to these and nearer the Trisool, towards which
the plateau in general has a tendency to sink step-wise, though never nearer the
deep narrow bed of that river than several feet, twenty or more. These Tars
are rather more wholesome and habitable than the Biasis, and capable of more
various culture, though chiefly of trees, since trees alone can flourish deprived of
water, except from rain ; and thus is, in part, explained the great pre-
dominance of mangoe and other groves over fields of agriculture in the Tar or
Tars of Nayakote, which, however lovely at all seasons, boast no winter or spring
crops, despite of the high temperature of the place ; the Tars are too dry, and the
Biasis too wet for spring crops, though they be common in the much colder
valley of Nepal Proper. The difference of temperature between the valleys of
Nayakote and of Nepal Proper is occasioned by the difference of elevation above
the sea. This difference amounts to 2,250* feet; and the same cause affords
us also the only apparent, but far from satisfactory, explanation of the fact, that
whilst Nayakote is pestilently malarious from March to November, Nepal Pro-
per is free from this scourge, all other circumstances being the same in each val-
ley. The lowlands of Nayakote, consequently, are but very thinly peopled, the
only permanent dwellers therein being several singular and affined races of men,
called Dahi or Dari, Kumha, Kuswar, Botia, Bhrainu, and Denwar, of whom
more hereafter, and some few Parbattias and Newars. The NeVars build and
dwell solely on the Tars. The Parbattias will not adventure even so far, but
usually have their houses on the hills around, and never suffer themselves to
* See Dr. Campbell's excellent paper, cqnid J. H. and A. S.
hhI
58 NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES.
sleep in any part of the lowlands for a single night between April and November.
In the Biasis, then, are houses of Denwars and their compeers only : in the
Tars, those of the above people, and of some few Parbattias and Newars also,
but in neither do the clusters of cottages hardly ever reach the size of a village
and the dwellings stand for the most part single and scanty. The whole^district
is said to contain 700 houses, but I doubt it, even allowing 100 or 150 houses to
the town ; and half the number in either case would probably be nearer the mark.
The soil of Nayakote contains a juster proportion of clay to silex and calx than
the soil of the greater valley of Nepal Proper, which is derived principally from the
debris of granitic formations ; and hence we obtain an explanation of the reputed
eminent fertility of the former, and, more surely, of its celebrated potteries. The
heights around Nayakote are of inferior size, consisting on the northern side
especially, mostly of iron clay, of very deep red tint ; and the superficial soil of
the Tars is for the most part the same, the substratum being, however, usually
gravel, whence the dryness of their soil is increased.
The soil of the Biasis also is clayey, but untinted luteous white, and where un-
mixed with silex or other ingredients, even more tenacious than the red clay.
The pottery clays are exclusively of the former sort. Mica, so common in the
great valley of Nepal, is here never witnessed. The high temperature of Nayakote
admits of most of the trees, forest and fruit, as well as of the superior Cerealia,
of North Behar and the Tarai, being cultivated with success, though they cannot
be raised in the great valley. Nayakote has, besides, distinguished products of
its own, which are not found, or not found so good, in the plains of Behar —
these are the orange and the pine-apple. The forest trees peculiar to the dis-
trict, not found in the great valley, and identifying this of Nayakote with the
Tarai and plains, are the Saul (Shorea robusta), Burr and Pipal (Ficus Indica et
Religiosa), Semal or Cottontree, Pras, Neem, and Mohwa. The Pinus longifo-
lia, and other mountain-growths, are frequently found mixed with these on the
declivities around.
The chief of the fruit-trees is the Mangoe of various sorts, many exotic and
superior, though the celebrated Bombay mangoe is apt to lose its flavour by swel-
ling into undue and dropsical dimensions; the tamarind, the abir, the jack-
fruit or bel, the kathur, the badhur, the pukri, the guava, the custard-apple or
sharifa, and, in a word, all the ordinary fruit-trees of India, none of which, it
should be added, flourish in the larger valley. To the above we must subjoin the
following exotics grown in the gardens of Khinchat, belonging to the Government
— naril or cocoanut, supari or betel, vine, pear, apple, apricot (native), and
plums of many kinds. All but the two first of these, however, flourish as well,
or better, in the greater valley, being European products.
The smaller horticultural products of Nayakote are pine-apples (excellent),
plantains of many kinds and good, jamans of four sorts, melons, but no grapes
nor peaches. Pines, platains and jamans are denied to the greater valley, where
however the orange — that boast of Nayakote — flourishes. The better kinds of
the Nayakote oranges are equal to any in the world, so that our horticulturists in
NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES. 59
India should endeavour to procure and propagate them. The agricultural products
of Nayakote resemble in general those of the greater valley of Nepal Proper; and
as the latter have been fully described in print,* I shall on the present occasion spe-
cify only the peculiarities of Nayakote produce, resulting from its more tropical
climate. It has already been observed, that whereas there are two crops per
annum in the greater valley, there is only one in the lesser, because of the excess
of moisture and want of drainage in the Biasis, and of the total absence of means
of artificial irrigation in the Tars. The Biasis yield only rice, which is not
planted nor reaped at the early periods prevalent in the greater valley, but at the
later ones usual in the plains of Behar ; and the like is true of the sugar-cane
which is grown on the skirts of the Biasis. In the great valley every blade of
rice has disappeared by the beginning of November, and half the crop by the
middle of October ; the untransplanted sorts of Ghaiya even sooner. In Nayakote
the rice-harvest lasts till the beginning of December, nay to the middle of that
month, and there are then no means of desiccating the fields rapidly enough for a
spring crop. The rices grown in the Biasis are different from those grown in
the greater valley, with the exception of Malsi and Touli, and even of these two
sorts there is but little. Munsera is the staple crop of Nayakote, and of its
several kinds, as Doodia, Gouria, &c. It is of a bright golden hue, straw and
grain, and longer in the stalk than our rices, to the best of which it is equal in
quality. Among the seventeen to twenty sorts of rice grown at Nayakote, are
the Mal-bhog, Krishen-bhog, and other fine descriptions, for which Pillibheet is
so famous. None of these last can be raised in the greater valley. The follow-
ing are the names of the Nayakote rices : —
Malsi, Krishen-bhog, Isegoon,
Touli, Bairini, Anandi,
Doodraj, Charinagari, Roodra,
Mansera, Jarasari, Katonja,
Gouria, Mal-bhog, Tharia,
Kala Gouria, Jhagri, &c., &c.
The Ook, or sugar-cane of Nayakote, is incomparably superior to that of the
greater valley, and indeed to that of most parts of India. There are five prin-
cipal sorts, fonr of which are yellowish, and the fifth, dark red. I purpose to
send specimens of these to Calcutta for examination, Ook is grown on the skirts
of the Biasis, as well as on the declivities of the hills near them. On the Tars, or
plateaux or upper levels, are grown, besides the ordinary rain's produce of similar
sites in the greater valley, the superior sorts of Dall, such as Arher, and cotton of
inferior quality, neither of which can be raised at all in the greater valley. Of the
whole surface of the Tars of Nayakote, a half probably is devoted to gardens and
orchard ; a quarter to fields of dry produce ; an eighth to rice or wet produce ; and
the remaining eighth may be barren.
* See Dr. Campbell's excellent paper, apud. J. H. and A. S.
60 NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES.
The genera of mammals and birds observed during a hurried visit, under
disadvantageous circumstances, were Nemorhedus (Ghoral), Stylocerus (Ratwa),
Martes (Flavigula), Sciuropterus (Magnificus), Sciurus (Locria), all common to
the greater valley; Corvus, Pastor, Coracias, Alauda, Anthus, Motacilla, Budytes,
Pyrgita, Phoenicura, Saxicola, Phcenicornis, Dicrurus, Muscicapa, Tichodroma
(Muraria), Picus, Palceornis, Clorhynchus,* Totanus Tringa, EgTetta, Ana?, Quer-
quedula, Carbo, Mergus, Turtur, Euplocomus, Gallus, (Jungle-cock, Bankiva,)
Choetopus, Perdix, Coturnix, Hemipodius. Of these, Gallus, Coracias, and Palce-
ornis, unknown to the greater valley, proclaim the qtiasi-Indmn climate of Na-
yakote ; as Carbo and Mergus, also unknown there, do its larger rivers. For the
rest, the species, as well as genera, are those common to both districts. The wall-
creeper of Europe, supposed to be confined thereto, is frequent in both.
The commerce and manufactures of Nayakote are too inconsiderable to claim
specific notice ; but in the cold season, in this, as in all other smaller valleys of
Nepal, booths are erected on the riverside by traders and craftsmen from the
great valley, who reside there for the four coldest and salubrious months (Decem-
ber to March inclusive), exchanging grain for rock salt with the Bhotias, both
Cis and Trans-Himalayan, dyeing the home-spun cloths of the neighbouring hill
tribes with the madder supplied by them and the indigo of Tirhoot, and tinker-
ing and pedlaring, and huckstering, for the assembly collected at this petty
sort of fair.
It has been already observed, that the inhabitants of Nayakote consist of several
peculiar races, besides the ordinary Parbattia tribes and the Newar. Both the
latter have been described elsewhere, I shall therefore confine myself in this place
to a short notice of the former, or Denwar, Dari, Kuswar, Botia, Bhramu, and
Kumha. These tribes are exceedingly ignorant, and moreover are disposed to use
the little wit they have in cunning evasion of all enquiry into their origin and
history, affecting to be hill-men, employing the Parbattia language, and pre-
tending to have forgotten their father-land and speech. In their (compara-
tively with reference to the Tartaric type) dark-hued skins, slender forms, oval
faces, elevated features, and peculiar dialect, barbarous jjatois as the last now is
— may perhaps be traced the apparent signs of a Southern origin. These men
certainly do not all, if any, belong to the ordinary or dominant Tartaric stock of
the mountaineers of Nepal, but either to the ordinary stock of the Indian popula-
tion (Indo-Germanic) or to some of those fragmentous branches of it, which still here
and there represent a preceding Turanian race or races, as the lids, Mundas,
Urauns, Gonds, Bhils across the Ganges, and the Tharus and Boksas of the
Nepalese Tarai. Between the last-mentioned and the Denwars in particular, a dis-
tinct affinity may be traced : but to verify and illustrate this affinity through
Tharu helps, is as little feasible, as to do it through Denwar ones ; and I shall
only therefore venture to say at present, that whether the Tharus of the Tarai,
and the Denwars and their compeer cultivators of Nayakote, and of other simi-
* lbidorhynchus. Gould.
NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES. 6 1
lar low and malarious tracts within the hills (for in many others they are
found), belong to the aboriginal or to the ordinary stock of Indian population,
they are closely connected among themselves, separate from the dominant Tartar
breeds of the mountains, and possibly emigants from the plains countless genera-
tions back.*
The K us war, Botia, Kumha (not own name), Bhramu, Denwar, and Dari or
Dahi inhabit with impunity the lowest and hottest valleys of Nepal, just as the
Tharus, etc. do the Tarai, and also, the Miindas and Uraons of Chota Nagpore,
but as recent servants and settlers merely, in the case of the last two, who are chiefly
mentioned here, because of their participating with the races now before us, in
that singular immunity from malarious affection, which is not known to be the
attribute of any other people whatever.
Wherever malaria rages from March to November, beyond the Said forest and
within the hills, there the Den wars, Daris, Bhramiis, Kiimhas, and Man) his §
dwell, and dwell exclusively, sometimes collected in small villages, more usually in
scattered cottages, comfortably built of unhewn stone, or wattles laid over with
plaister, and furnished with a pent and overhung roof of grass or rice straw,
which is verandahed towards the east. They follow the avocations of agricul-
turists, potters, fishermen, and ferrymen, and at all these crafts, and more es-
pecially at the second, they are very expert ; the Kiimhas of Nayakote in par-
ticular being renowned for their workmanship even in the vicinity of the very
able craftsmen in that kind, whom the great valley produces.
These races of men affect a distinctness among themselves, which is apt to make a
stranger smile, though it may possibly indicate different periods of immioTation
and of settlement within the hills, or immigrations from different places. In
general, the five tribes or races will not intermarry among themselves, nor with
any of the races around them; and they allege that their languages (dialects)
were, and customs are, distinct. But they all now commonly use the Khas lang-
uage, and call themselves Hindus, though they neither believe in the sacred
* I have, since this was written (sixteen years back), obtained samples of the languages
of most of the above named tribes, which I am thus enabled to class with the broken
Turanian tribes of the Himalaya, inclusive of its Tarai. These tribes, by their com] dex
languages and altered physical type, form most interesting links between the Himalayan
normal or unbroken tribes, as well as their confreres beyond the snows, and the
broken and unbroken tribes of the Turanian stock in Central and Southern India,
viz. the Dravirians or Tamulians and the Miindas, Hos, and Sontals. I cannot sub-
scribe to Midler's or Logan's doctrine of a separate Gangetic sub-family of Turanians,
nor to that of a separate Lohitic sub-family. Very remotely divided times of Tura-
nian immigration may be conceded, but not totally sundered routes, and still less such
broad distinctions of race among the immigrants as seem to be contended for. The
hundred gates of Himalaya were ever open to admit immigrants, and the population
beyond the snows has been in all time one and the same, or Turanian with subor-
dinate distinctions equally found beyond and within the Himalaya. It may be that
the Ugric stock of the immigrants found their way into India by rounding the N.W.
extremity of the Himalaya. But there are closely allied Turkic tribes in Central Hima-
laya, which certainly entered by the Himalayan Ghats, e.g. the Kuswar and Botia.
(not Bhdtia).
§ This is a Khas term and includes with the tribes of which the proper and separate
names are Kuswar and Botia ^not Bhotia or Tibetan).
62 NAYAKOTE AND ITS TE1BES.
scriptures of the Hindus, nor accept the sacerdotal offices of the Brahnians.
With a general remembrance of manners and customs, they have some trivial
diversities of usage, as follows.
Mdnjhis* — Their priests are the old men of the tribe ; in making burnt and
other offerings to their deities, they use no sacred or other words or prayers. On
account of births, they are impure for four days: they cut the navel on the day
of birth, and four days afterwards make a feast. On account of deatbs, the impurity
lasts forteen days, but under stress of business, one day's observance will suffice
at the moment, so that the other nine are observed afterwards.
Denwdrs. — They allege that they came from the Western hills ; their priests
are their daughters' husbands and sisters' sons.§ Impurity at births lasts for
ten clays, and the same at deaths : they will not eat pulse dressed by Brahmans,
but rice, if it have ghee in it, they will. They sometimes enter into trade and
service. DaJii vel Dari, Kumhd, Bhrdmu, have a general resemblance of manners
and customs with the last; but they will not eat rice dressed by Brahmans,
whether it have ghee in it or not, but will eat other things of Brahman's dres-
sing. None of the five races has any written language or characters ; but the
investigation of their common connection, and of their affinity with other abori-
ginal races inhabiting other more or less secluded localities thronghout the plains
of India,t might still be managed, through their speech, their physical attributes,
their manners and customs, if the Argus jealousy of the Nepal Government could
by any means be charmed into a more discriminating use of Chinese maxims of
foreign policy.
RIVERS FALLING- WITHIN THE ABOVE LIMITS.
1. The Sindhu\\ rises from Sindubhanjung, an off-set from Mount Manichur,
or the most eastern part of Sivapoor, the northern barrier of the greater valley.
The Sindhu has a course of about fifteen miles almost due west behind, or to
* Divided in Kuswar and Botia, which are the proper tribe names. Manjhi refers
only to tbeir profession as fishermen, and is a name imposed by the Khas.
§ These purely arbitrary customs may serve hereafter as helps in tracing the affinity of
these and other semi-barbarous races throughout the mountains and hills of the Indian
Continent, the disjecta membra of its original population.
The Dadhi or Dahi, Kumha (not own name), Kuswar, Botia (not Bhotia), Denwar,
Boksa, Tharu, have tongues which are now almost merged in Hindi, though still retain
ingsome structural traits of Turanian origin, .g., the Kuswar with its conjunct pro-
noun suffixed to uonn and verb in the Turkic3, way. The Bhramu (who are allied to
the Dadhi) like the Hayu, the Chepang, and the Kusunda of the hills, have tongues of
purely Turanian character still.
a Kuswar supra : —
Bdba-im 'my father.' Thatha-im-ik-an 'I strike.'
Baba-ir ' thy father.' Thatha-ir-ik-an 'thou strike.'
Baba-ik ' his father. ' ThatM — ik-an 'he strike.'
Ik, the transitive verb sign. It is the conjunct form of the third pronoun.
t See a paper on the Nilgirians, in a recent number of the Asiatic Society's Journal.
|| Sindhu, a petty feeder only of Upper Likhu, rises at a village of Sindhu, soon mer-
ged in Likhu. The Sindhuria is separate and rises from eastern end of Bhalu
Danra, where it links on to Burmandi. Tbwrakhola, from Kahulia, joins at base of Bur-
mandi, and botrf flow about four miles to the Tadi. The stream spoken of as No. 1
is therefore the Sindhuria as now defined. The Likhu and Sindhu are one in all
the limits noted, or rather the Sindhu is nothing.
NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES. 63
the north of, Sivapoor and Burniandi, through a narrow fertile glen, which is
somewhat interrupted by the projection of the base of Burniandi, where the
main road from Kathmandii runs. Above this point the glen often bears the name
of Tansen ; the river is a mere streamlet, drawing half its water moreover from
the west aspect of Burniandi, below the Resident's Powah or bungalow. It falls
into the Tadi at Narain, or Ghur Ghat, being divided from the Likhu by Bhalu
Danra, or the Bear's Ridge.
2. The Likhu, a somewhat larger stream than the Sindhu, parallel to it on
the north, and separated from it by Bhalu Danra. The Likhu rises from above
the Kabilas ridge, which divides it from the Tadi on the north. The course of the
Likhu, though in general parallel to that of the Sindhu, yet radiates towards
the north, as the Tadi does still more. The Likhu is about double the size of
Sindhu, and has a course of perhaps twenty miles; it falls into the Tadi at Chou-
ghora, four miles above the lower Durbar of Nayakote. Its glen is cultivated
throughout, and has an average width of 300 yards in its lower part. It is not
a third the size of the Tadi.
3. The Tadi, classically styled Suryavati, from its taking its rise at Suryakiind,
or the Sun's Fount which, in the most easterly of the twenty-two little lakes of
Gosain-than, is thrown off towards the east, as is the Trisool from the same point
towards the west, by the loftiest of the snowy peaks in the region of Nepal Pro-
per, and which is consequently the point of divergency of the nearest seven Gan-
daks on the one hand, and of the seven Cosis on the other. The Tadi, however,
though at first put off in an easterly direction, is drawn round westerly to mingle
with the seven Gandaks, instead of joining the proximate Milamchi and Indhani,
or first feeders of the Sun Cosi, by a large ridge running south from Gosain-than
nearly to Sivapoor, and putting off laterally towards the west the inferior ridges
of Kabilas and Nerja, which separate the rivers Likhu and Tadi in all their lower
and parallel courses. The Tadi proceeding at first easterly is gradually bent to
the west by the great ridge just mentioned. The whole course of the river to Devi
Ghat, where it merges iu the Trisool, may be thirty miles, ten east and south,
and the rest W. S. W. In its lower course, before reaching Nayakote, it is bounded
on the left bank by the narrow ridge of Kabilas, and on the right by that of
Nerja. It receives the Likhu at Choughora, four miles' above, or east of, the lower
Durbar of Nayakote, and the Sindhu, at Narain Ghat, opposite to that Durbar.
In the rest of its course of about four miles W.S.W. to Devi Ghat, it confines the
great Tar or plateau of Nayakote on the south, just as the Trisool does no the
north. At Narain Ghat^the Tadi in December is thirty to forty yards wide and
two feet deep. It is but little wider or deeper at Devi Ghat, and consequently
is not a tenth of the size of the Trisool, which at the Sunga of Khinchat is thirty-
six yards broad and twenty-two and a half feet deep. The glen of the Tadi is
cultivated throughout nearly, and in its uppermost parts is said not to be
malarious.
4. The Trisool, or most easterly of the seven Gandaks of Nepal, rises from
the principal uf the twenty-two Kunds, or lakelets (pools) of Gosainthan. These
64 NAYAKOTE AND ITS TRIBES.
lakelets occupy a fiat summit of considerable extent, that cannot be less than
10,000 feet high, and lies immediately below the unrivalled peak variously called
Nilkant, Gosain-than, and Dkawalagiri.* The lake, more especially called Go-
sain-than, is probably a mile in circuit, and close behind it, from the perennial
snow, issues by three principal clefts (hence the name Trisoolt), tha River
Trisool, or Trisool Gandaki. Its course is at first due west almost for perhaps
fifteen miles, but then turns S.S.W., running in that direction for twenty miles,
and more, to Devi Ghat. It is a deep blue, arrowy, beautiful stream, conducting
not only the pilgrim to Gosain-than, but the trader and traveller to Tibet; the
road to Kerung in Tibet striking off from the river where it bends (as yon as-
cend) to the east, and the town itself of Kerung being visible from Gosain-than
in clear weather, at the distance of perhaps thirty miles. The Trisool, four
miles above Nayakote, receives the Betravati at Dhaibung, from the N.E. It
is a petty stream, not having a course above fifteen miles from one of the re-
silient angles or bosoms of Mount Dhaibung or Jibjibia, the continuation of which
ridge towards the west, and across the Trisool, is called Sdlima Bhdrsia. This
Latter ridge conducts another feeder into the Trisool from the N.W. called the
Salankhu, of about the same size with the Betravati. Considerably south of the
Salima ridge is the ridge called Samribhanjang, whence flows a third and still
smaller feeder of the Trisool, named the Samri Khola, which disembogues it-
self into the Trisool from the north-west, half a mile to a mile below the
Sunga or suspension bridge of Khinchat. The valley of the Trisool is nar-
row, and without any Biasi or plain on the level of its waters, which flow in
a deep bed. The heights, however, on one or both sides, supply numerous
rills for occasional cultivation, which is maintained as far up as ten miles above
Dhaibung (Dayabhang), a considerable village, where the ordinary Parbattia popu-
lation begins to yield to the race called Kachar-Bhotias, or Cis-Himalayan Bho-
tias. At Devi Ghat the River Trisool is passed by a ferry most jealousy guarded;
nor is the river thence to Devi Ghat permitted to be used for any sort of trans-
port, nor even for the floating of timber, though the rapids (there are no cataracts)
may help the prohibition. A few miles below Devi Ghat, the streamlets poured
into the Trisool by the glen of Dhiinibyasi, afford much better access to the
great valley of Nepal, by the route of Trisool, than that which follows that river
to Nayakote and thence leads over Burmandi. These latter routes issue into the
great valley at Thankoto and at Ichangu Narain.
* Nilkant and Gosain-than may be called proper names of this great snow mass.
Dhoulagiri is rather a descriptive epithet, equivalent to Mont Blanc and Lebanon,
and its application to this peak is up advisable, because it has now become the settled
name of the next great peak to the west of Gosain-than.
+ The legend of the place states that Maha Deva went to the snow to cool his throat,
which had been burnt by swallowing the kalkut poison, which appearing at the churn-
ing of the ocean, threatened to consume the world. Maha Deva is called "blue throat,'*
from the injury he sustained. He produced the river by striking his Trisool into the
snows.
5. ON THE TRIBES OP NORTHERN TIBET. (HORYEUL AND SOKYEUL)
AND OF SIFAN.
I now submit my promised Sifan and Horsok vocabularies, with such geo-
graphic illustrations as may tend to render them more easily and fully appre-
ciable. I intended to have retained these vocabularies till I had completed my
ending investigation of the grammar of the Gyaning and Horpa tongues. But
the high interest attaching to the discovery of another surprising instance of
the wide-spreading relations of these tongues, made in the course of that investi-
gation, and which discovery is sufficiently verifiable even by the vocabularies,
though by no means limited to their evidence, together with the bearings of these
vocabularies upon my two last communications, induces me not to postpone the
sending of them. I can follow them up, by and bye, by the proposed grammati-
cal elucidations. In the meanwhile there is abundant matter for the present
communication in such a statement as I now propose giving of the present dis-
covery, in some general remarks on the characteristics of the vast group of tongues
to which the vocabularies, now and priorly submitted, belong, and in some des-
criptions of the physical attributes of the almost unknown races more immediately
now in question. Nor do I apprehend that the want of the grammatical details
adverted to will materially impair the interest of the present communication,
since I have anticipated so much on that head in the way of practical exposi-
tion by samples as to make the special discovery I announce perfectly appre-
ciable without those details, which, moreover, speaking generally of this vast group
of tongues, I have shown reasons for deeming less important than they are wont
to be held both pkilologically and ethnologically.
This series of vocabularies is entirely my own work in a region equally interest-
ing and untrodden. It consists of seven languages, viz., the Trochu, the Sokpa, the
Gyami, the Gyaning, the Horpa, the Takpa, and the Manyak ; and so novel is
a deal of the matter, that it will be necessary to explain at once what these
terms mean, and to shew where the races of men are to be found speaking these
tongues. Horsok is a compound Tibetan word, by which the people of Tibet
designate the noinades who occupy the whole northern part of their country, or
that lying beyond the Nyenckhen-thangla* range of mountains, and between it
* This important feature of the geography of Tibet is indicated by the Nian-tsin-
tangla of Hitter's Hoch Asien and by the Tank of Hue. I have, following native
authority, used in a wide sense a name which those writers use in a contracted *ense;
and reasonably, because the extension, continuity, and haight of the chain are indu-
bitable. Nevertheless, Bitter and Guyon have no warrant for cutting off from Tibet
the country beyond it up to the Kuenlun, nor are Katche and Khor, the names they
give to the country beyond, admissible or recognized geographic terms. Khor, equal
Kor, is purely ethnic, aiid Katche is a corruption of Khachhen or Mahomedan, liter-
ally Big-mouth.
Ill
66 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
and the Kwanleun or Kuenlun chain. Horsok designates the two distinct races
of the Ilor or Horpa and the Sok or Sokpa, neither of whom, so far as I have
means to learn, is led by the possession of a native name at once familiar and
general, to eschew the Tibetan appellations as foreign; though it will soon be
seen that they are really so, if our identifications fail not. The Horpa occupy
the western half of the region above defined, or Northern Tibet ; and also a deal
of Little Bukharia and of Songaria, where they are denominated Kao-tse by the
Chinese, and Ighiirs (as would seem) by themselves.
The Sokpa occupy the eastern half of Northern Tibet as above defined, and also
the wide adjacent country usually called Kkokkoniir and TaDgiit by Europeans
bur by the Tibetans, Sokyeul or Sok-land.
In Southern Tibet, or Tibet south of the Nyenchhen-thangla chain, there are
numerous scattered Horpas and Sokpas, as there are many scattered Bodpas in
Northern Tibet ; but, in general, that great mountain chain, the worthy rival
of the Himalaya and the Kuenlun, may be said to divide the nomadic Horpas
and Sokpas from the non-nomadic Bodpas or Tibetans proper. Though the major
part be Buddhists, yet are there some followers of Islam among the Horpas and
Sokpas of Tibet ; more beyond the Tibetan limits. They are all styled Khachhen
by the Tibetans, of which word I think the Chinese Kao-tse is a mere corruption,
despite Cunningham's ingenious interpretation of Kao-tse.
The Islamites are also called Godkar, of which term again Klaproth's Thogar
seems to be metamorphosis.
Between the Horpa and Sokpa, in the central part of Northern Tibet, are
the Drokpa* vel Brogpa whose vocables I have as yet failed to obtain; and
also, numerous "Kazzfik" or mounted robber bands, styled by the Tibetans Chakpa
vel Jagpa, who recruit their formidable association from any of the neighbouring
races, but especially from the Bodpa (Tibetans proper), the Horpa, the Sokpa,
and the Drokpa.
The language of the Chakpa is the ordinary Tibetan, and therefore, and because
also of their very mixed lineage, they are of little ethnic importance, though
always cited by the Tibetans, with fear and trembling, as a separate element of
their population. The predatory habits of the Chakpa often carry them beyond
their own limits, and they and the erratic Drokpa are often seen in Nari, where
Gerrard and Cunningham speak of them under the designations of Dzakpa and of
Dokpa. I doubt the ethnic independence of both, and believe them to be mixed
associations, composed of people of the above specified races, from among which
the Horpa or Turks contribute an element even to the Himalayan population of
Kanawer, as is proved by the infinitives in " mak " of the Taburskad tongue.
From Khokhonur to Yunnan, the conterminous frontier of China and Tibet, is
successively and continuously occupied (going from north to south) by the Sokpa
above spoken of; by the Amdoans, who for the most part now speak Tibetan ; by
* Quite distinct from the Diikpa vel Brukpa of Bhutan. The ' vel ' indicates the dis-
tinction of the written from the spoken word.
TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 6j
the Thochii ; by the Gyariing ; and by the Manyak, whose vocabularies are all
subjoined ; whilst returning back westward, along the " pente septentrionale" of
the Himalaya, we have, after passing through the Kham districts of Chyarung
and Kwonibo, the region of the Takpas, or Takyeul, styledf Dakpo by Bitter,
who, however, places it east of Kwombo, whereas it lies west of that district,
written Combo by him. The Brahmaputra or Yard quits Tibet in the district of
Kwombo, as he states.
Takyeul, the Towang Raj of the English, is a dependency of Lhasa. Its civil
administrator is the Ckonajiing-peun ; its ecclesiastic head, the Tamba Lama,
whence our Towang.
The people of Sokyeul, of Amdo, of Thochii, of Gyariing, and of Manyak, who
are under chiefs of their own, styled Gyabo or King, Siniee Wang, bear among
the Chinese the common designation of Sifan or Western aliens ; and the Tibetans
frequently denominate the whole of them Gyariingbo, from the superior importance
of the special tribe of Gyariing, which reckons eighteen chiefs or banners, of power
sufficient, in days of yore, often to have successfully resisted or assailed the Celes-
tial Empire, though for some time past quietly submitting to a mere nominal depen-
dency on China. The word Gya, in the language of Tibet, is equivalent to that of
Fan (alienus,* barbaros) in the language of China; and, as rung means, in the
former tongue, proper or special, Gyariing signifies alien par excellence, a name of
peculiar usefulness in designating the whole of these Eastern borderers, in order
to discriminate them from the affined and approximate, but yet distinct, Bodpa of
Kham. Others affirm that Gyariing means wild, rude, primitive Gyaa, making
rung the same as tiing in Myamma ; and that the typical Gyas (Gyaini) are
the Chinese, though the latter be usually designated specially black Gyas
(Gya-nak).
The Gyariings themselves have no general name for their country or people, a
very common case. When I submit the interesting itinerary I possess of a
journey from Kathmandii to Pekin, I shall more particularly notice the topo-
graphy of Sifan. At present it will be sufficient to add that this country, which
extends from the Blue Sea to Yunnan, with a very unequal width, varying
from several days' march to only two or three, forms a rugged mountainous decli-
vity from the lofty plateau of Kham to the low plain of Szchuen, and which is
assimilated by those who well know both, to the Indian declivity of the Hima-
laya, the mountains being for the most part free from snow, and the climate
much more temperate than that of Tibet. Within this mountainous belt or barrier
of Sifan are the Takpa, who are consequently Tibetans : witJiout it are the
Gyaini, who are consequently Chinese, as will be seen by their respective vocabu-
laries— vocabularies, not the less valuable for being dialects merely (if no more)
of languages well known, because the dialectic differences of the Chinese and the
1 1 should add that Ritter's Gakpo and Gangpo, and Dakpo, are not three separate
places, but merely various utterances of the single word Takpa, and no more admissible
therefore than his Katehc and Khor before explained. This great geographer is rather
too prone to give a "local habitation" to the airy nothings of the polyglottic re-
gion, as 1 have formerly had occasion to point out, though no one can more admire than
1 do his immense learning ana the talent that guides and animates it.
68 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
Tibetan tongues are little understood, § at the same time that they are very im-
portant for enabling us to test the alleged distinctness of the great groups of
people nearest allied to these divisions.
For my part I apprehend that the true characteristics of the Chinese and Tibetan
languages have been a good deal obscured by bookmen,* native and European ;
and, though it be somewhat premature to venture an opinion before I have com-
pleted my pending investigation of the Gyariing and Horpa tongues, I still
must say that T suspect few competent judges will rise from the attentive study
of this and my two prior series of vocabularies, with out feeling a conviction that
the Indo-Chinese, the Chinese, the Tibetans, and the Altaians, have been too
broadly contra-distinguished, and that they form in fact but one great ethnic
family, which moreover includes what are usually called the Tamulian or Dravidian
and the Kol and Munda elements! of Indian population, as well as nearly every
element of the population of Oceania. J
* Hence Gya, philing, or Frankish stranger. European foreigner is the name for
Europeans in Tibet. Philing = Frank, Indice Feringi, not as interpreted by M. Hue.
§ Leyden reckoned ten Chinese tongues (As. Res., X. 266). Others hold that there
is but one. Again, Remusat (Rccherchcs sur les langues Tartares) insisted that there
must be several tongues in Tibet, whereas Csoma de Koros (Journal No. 4) considers
that there is but one. This comes in part of the want of a standard of ethnic unity,
whether lingual or physical, and in part of the mixture of distinct races by regarding
them under a large geographic and political unity, thus the Horsok belong undoubtedly
to Tibet, but do not belong to the Bodpa race. I have given, I believe, all the lan-
guages of Tibet, that is, the languages of all the races now and long settled in Tibet.
My Gyami vocables exhibit a vast difference from the Kong one of Leyden, tit supra.
,But I do not rely on mine, nor have I means to test it.
* A deal of Csoma's abundant grammatical apparatus of the Tibetan tongue is posi-
tively repudiated by the people of Tibet, whilst the learned and sage Remusat teaches
us to question the over-strained aud unintelligible assertions about the monosyllabisna
of the Chinese tongue, as if there were no dissyllables, no adjuncts to the roots ! and
as if the roots of Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Arabic were not monosyllables. For some valu-
able remarks on mouosyllabisin, see Eecherches sur les langues Tartares, i. 351-4, and
compare wdiat occurs in the sequel as to the monosyllabic polysyllabism (different as-
pects of the case) of Gya > ring and Tagala. Thus in Gyarung the root xo becomes
Masazangti by mere cumulation of particles, ma, sa, za, ang, and ti.
+ For some proofs of the reality of this element, see a paper on the Nilgirians in a
recent number of the A static Society. Adverting to recent denials, it may be worth
while to give here a Himalayan sample of Dravirianism from the Kiranti language : —
Wa popo, my i Wd gu, my i
J'popo, thy [ uncle. I'gu, thy ( hand.
A' popo, his ' A'gu, his '
Pog-u, I i Teub-tl, I i
Pog-i, thou | beget. Teub-i, thou > strike.
Pog-d, he ' Teub-d, he '
Of that complex pronomenalization of the verb, for which the Ho and Sontal tongues
are so remarkable, I shall shortly have to produce some still more perfect samples from
the Central Himalaya. In the paper referred to, I have demonstrated the lorthcoming-
ness also of the Turkic, viz., Kuswar tongue which has conjunct contracted prououn
suffixed to noun and to verb, and Mantehuric elements in the languages of Himalaya.
X The elder oceanic element, or Alforian, = our Tamulian aud the analogous dispersed
and .subdued tribes of the Himalaya, Indo-China, and China: the younger oceanic
element, or Malayo-polynesian, =-the now dominant tribes of Indo-China, China, Tibet,
and Himalaya. I must content myself, at present, with pointing to the special illustra-
tion of the latter part of this reunion of the continental and insular races in the sequel,
though every proof of the wide common domain of the continentals is also an illustra-
tion, inferential, yet clear, of both parts of it.
TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 69
My former vocabularies showed how intimately the Indo-Chinese tongues are
allied with the Himalayan and Tibetan by identity of roots, of servile particles,
and even of entire words, as the integral results of the combination of the two
former, provided only that the comparison be drawn from a field large enough
to exhibit the necessary range of admitted mutation, both in the primary and
secondary parts of words, in use for ages among widely sundered, and often also
extremely segregated, races. How large that range of admitted mutation is, I
have illustrated by examples in the note appended to the present series of vocabu-
laries, and I recommend those who would properly appreciate the great apparent
deviations from a type of language, which is, as I suppose, one and the same, to
take good heed of what is there instanced. In the meanwhile, without fatiguing
the reader with more analyses at present, I proceed to remark that the analogies
and affinities indicated by the last series of vocabularies between the Himalayan
and Tibetan tongues on one hand, and the Indo-Chinese on the other, are carried
on and confirmed by some of the present series, whilst others extend the links to
the Altaic group of languages; the Gyariing, Takpa, and Manyak carrying the chain
of connexion onwards from the south-east, and the Tkoehii, Horpa, and Sokpa,
transmitting it over the Kwanleun to the north and west; the Gyariing by its
grammatical structure exhibiting also marvellous correspondencies with remoter
regions; with Caucasus, as has been separately shown already, and with Oceania,
as will appear in the sequel of this communication. How far precisely the other
languages now submitted may participate these express and peculiar features of
grammatical affinity, I am not yet prepared to say. But the whole of them cer-
tainly exhibit a great general resemblance in the broader traits of syntactic,* and
yet a greater in those of etymological, construction. In a word, they are evidently
members of that single and vast family of languages, the singleness and the
vastness of which I conceive to be justly inferrible even from its vocables — 1st,
because of the similarity of the roots; 2nd. because of the similarity of ser-
viles ; 3/y7. because of the similar principles governing the uses and the mutations
of both, and the consequent composition and the character of the integral words,
which exhibit an essential identity in numberless terms of prime necessity, after
due allowance for synonymous changes in their roots and for euphonic and differ-
ential changes in their serviles within known limits and upon a demonstrably
single plan.
I infer that the differences characterizing this vast family of languages, how-
ever striking at first sight, are subordinate, because when the languages are ex-
amined upon a broad enough scale, these differences are seen to pass away by in-
sensible gradations. Such as they are, they arise from — 1st, a greater or lesser
use of the pre-fixed, in-fixed, and post-fixed particles, amounting to nearly con-
* I may instance the universal substitution of continuative gerunds and participles
in lieu of conjunctions and of conjunctive (relative) pronouns, because this feature has
been supposed to he specially characteristic of the Altaic group. It is no more so than
the vocalic harmony of Turki, or than the inverted style and tonic system of the Indo-
Chinese tongues. These appear to me to be blending differences of degree only, not ab-
solute differences of kind, and to have been used to sever unduly the several groups.
jj
JO TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
stant employment of some or all of them in some tongues, and to nearly total
disuse of some or all of them in others ; [The disuse or non-use is often only
apparent, for the surplus " silent " letters are really pre-fixes, with a blended, in-
stead of a separate utterance. That this is so may be proved to demonstration
by identity of function (differential) in the two ; and yet the blended or separate
utterance makes all the difference between monosyllabism and its opposite, besides
causing other differences that are apt to conceal the essential identity of words.]
2nd, from a preference by one tongue of the pre-fixes, of the in-fixes by another,
and of the suffixes by a third ; 3rd, from that transposed position and function of
the primary and secondary part of words (root and particle), which is a law of
these languages eminently obscurative of identities in its partial operation ; [com-
pare 'overleap' and 'leap over ;' what holds good chiefly as to our verbs, holds good
equally as to the verbs and nouns of these tongues, wherein indeed the two
classes of words are but faintly distinguishable, or not at all so. Abundant
fresh evidence of the law may be found by comparing Leyden's Indo-Chinese
with my Tibeto-Himalayan vocabularies : compare mimma and sa-mi, Burmese,
with mi-ad, Newari, root mi; and ma-nek, Burmese, with nyi-md, Tibetan, root
nyi, 'Day, sun, and morning,' when compared, speak for themselves.] 4th, from
the substitution of a reiterated root, for a root and particle in the com-
position of words, when the various meanings of the root might otherwise
transcend the differencing power of the particles, or, at all events, not satisfy
the demand for an unusually broad distinction ; [in Gyaning, the root pye 'bird,'
is so near to the root pe 'father,' that they have been segregated by the appli-
cation to one of the usual prefix, to the other of the iterative principle, or
root repeated, whence ta-pe 'a father,' and pye pye 'a bird,' for san et pe pe. I
might add, as a fifth cause of difference between these tongues, the different de-
grees in which each employs the tonic or accentual variant, which principle has
been most erroneously supposed to be exclusively Chinese and Indo-Chinese,
whereas it prevails far and wide, only more or less developed ; most where the
servile particles and so-called silent letters are least in use; least, where they
are most in use ; so that the differential and equivalent function of all three pecu-
liarities, that is, of "empty words" (see Chinese Grammar), of "silent letters,"
and of tones, is placed in a clear light, such as Reinusat vainly strove to throw
upon one of the three, viewing it separately.*] 5th, from the disjunct or con-
junct (elided vowel) method of using the pre-fixed serviles, whence results at
once all the difference of soft polysyllabism or harsh monosyllabism.
The resulting disparities of the vocables are certainly often very marked, as in
the Wa-tii and U-i instance of Gyaning and Circassian, (so singularly confirmed
by the Malay and Tagala itu ' that ') \_I-tii, Wa-tu, and U-i are easily ex-
plained, and show how congruous all these tongues are at bottom. Few of them
* See Eecherchcs sur lee langucs Tartares, p. 355-7, vol. i. Csoma de Koros strangely
enough says nothing about tones or servile particles, and hence his remarks on the silent
letters want point and significance. The language of Nepal Proper is remarkable for its
numerous tones and its scanty serviles, whether literal or syllabic.
TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 7 I
have any proper third pronoun, they use as equivalents the demonstratives, which
are i and «, or u or w, or wa=u, Ta, with or without the nasal ending, ta, tan,
tang, is a synonym (Ti, di Tibetan, Thi Burmese, etc.) constantly added to the
near or far demonstrative, and repeating its vowel thus, i-thi Burmese, wa-thi
Hayu, i-ta and u-ta Khas, wa-tu Circassian, whose u-i is a mere combination of
the two demonstratives, either of which is equal to the third personal. The
ta is prefixed or suffixed, in the sense of Latin ejus to nouns, and thus we have
ta-yii Lepcha and Tamil for a woman, ta-gri Lepcha and tandri Tamil, a man, and
tctngkos Uraon, a son, etc., as samples of its prefixed use. Miiller is, I think,
wrong in citing the crude pa and ma as normal samples to be opposed to the
Arian pa-ter and ma-ter. Few Turanian tongues use the crude forms, and many
use the identical root and servile.] The case is similar with those given at the end of
the present series of vocabularies, so that it is no great wonder that the Mongolidan
or Turanian tongues have been referred to many groups so trenchantly separated
as virtually to fall under different families. And, if I incline so strongly to unitise
the family, it is only because, as far as my investigations have gone, I have been
able to discern nothing absolute and invariable in the distinctions — which though
no doubt distinctions proper to the vocables only, and not effecting structural
diagnostics (in the usual narrow sense, for composition of words is structure),
are yet unusually, and as I conceive decisively important, owing to the extremely
inartificial character which belongs to the grammar of these tongues, with some
apparently borrowed exceptions, such as tbat of the Turkish verbs. Not that the
grammatical or the physical evidence of this assumed family identity conflicts
with that of the vocables — much the contrary, as we shall soon see — but that
the latter has unusual relative value. [I may mention here an interesting sample
of this identity, derived from the substantive verb. It is da in Myamma, a-da
in Malay, da in Horpa, gdnh in Tibetan, dan in Uraon, etc. So also it is menu
in Sontal and mn-a in Tibetan ; and again, it is dug in Tibetan, dong in Bodo
and Garo, du in Newari, dong and kam dong in Gyariing.] And, would we
speak plainlv, we should say that grammar relates equally to the construction of
words and to the construction of sentences, and that the former sort of putting
together, or syntax, is always equally, and often more, important than the latter.
Certainly, it is more so in the Mongolidan tongues, which are as much distinguished
by their immensity of nicely discriminated terms, most of them necessarilg com-
pounds— and compounds of no unskilful contrivance — as by the scantiness and sim-
plicity of the contrivances by which those terms are held together in sentences.
rSee vocab. voce 'give' and 'take.' A Tartar cannot endure that confusion of
the precative, optative, and imperative, which our imperative mood exhibits. But
he remedies the defect not by the multiplication of grammatical forms but by
the use of distinct words or distinct modifications of the same word, thus Daw
1 commands ' and Davong 'solicits,' et sic do ceeteris. Compare the disjunctive
toe, so common in these tongues. Davo means ' give him,' Davong ' give to me,
by the annexed pronouns, and just so in Limbu Fire and Pirang, and in Vayu
Hato, and Hasing, Lepcha, and Newari, which eschew suffixed pronouns, have
72 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
Bo and Bi, Byn and Ti, for the respective senses, the former modifying the one
root, the other using two distinct roots. Observe the identity of bi/u, bo, bi and
pi (of pi-re, pi-rang.*)'} Nay, if we look carefully to what has been so well
done in one's own day for the elucidation of our own language, we shall discern
that the new lights have been principally etymological, borrowed from, as thrown
upon, the construction and composition of words, not of sentences.
Perhaps it will be urged that, after all, the structural analogy I have established
between the Gyariing and Circassian tongues belongs rather to the etymological
than to the syntactic department of languages. Let it be granted, and I would
then ask whether the analogy be therefore less important ? And is it not singu-
lar and a proof wherein resides the essential genius and character of these ton-
gues, and where therefore we are to seek for their true and closest relations,
that my scanty knowledge of the Himalayan and Tibetan group of them should
enable me unhesitatingly to analyse the words of the Caucasian group, of which
I know nothing, and to pronounce, for instance, Di-di to be a re-duplicate root, and
Dini to be a root and servile prefix, with perfect confidence, and, as I doubt not,
with equal accuracy ? That will, at all events, be known by and bye, and should
the result be such as I look for, the consequent affinity of the Caucasian and
Mongolian tongues will take an unquestionable shape and stand on the unassail-
able basis of words similarly constructed in all their parts and similarly em-
ployed throughout.
I must, however, whilst thus insisting on the pre-eminent importance of Mongo-
lidan vocables, freely admit that those of all my present series are by no means
entitled to equal confidence,* my access to the individuals who furnished the Sok-
pa and Gyaini words in particular having been deficient for such analytic dissection
as I hold by, and the competence of my informants, moreover, not beyond ques-
tion. I am likewise much in want of adequate original information respecting the
Altaic group, and of the books that might supply it. Nevertheless, I think, I may
safely affirm upon the strength of my vocabularies, that the Sokpo of the Tibetans
are, as has been already assumed in this paper, no other than the Oelet and Kalmak
of Remusat and Klaproth,t whilst their confreres, the Horpa, are almost as
evidently Turkish, the Turkish affinity of the latter being inferred, not only from
the vocables, but from the complex structure of Horpa verbs and from the quasi-
* Unfair use has been made of this admission. The vocabularies, such as they are,
are exceedingly valuable, though perhaps without analysis incapable of supporting such
a towering superstructure of theory as has been raised on them by their impugners.
I I might now add, having just laid my hand on M. Hue's book, the synonym of
Turgot to those of Kalmak and Oelet, but that Turgot, like Durbet, designates only a
tribe of this race, and a tribe whose tribunal denomination, as well as its migration to
the Volga and back to the Hi, had been already stated by Remusat. M. Hue's
amusing work, in fact, adds nothing to our stores of accurate ethnological knowledge,
his mere assertion, for instance, that the Hiongnu were Huns throwing no fresh light
upon a long debated point, and the nullity of the absolute identity of names in refer-
ence to the Sog, teaching us yet more to doubt vaguer identifications of this sort. Let
me add that M. Hue's account of the habits, manners and characters of the several
peoples is capital, and most evidently, accurately, as vividly, delineated.
TRIBES OP NORTHERN TJBET. 73
Avian physiognomy of the samples I have seen of the Horpa race.f And thus,
quoad Sokpo, is dissipated the dream of twenty years, during all which time I
have been in vain endeavouring to get access to the Sokpo, assured from the
identity of names (Sok pronounced Sog), that in the much talked-of people of
Eastern Tibet, I should discover that famous race which gave their appellations
to the Sogdiana and Sogdorum regio (or the Indus) of the classics, and whose iden-
tity with the Sacte of Indian and Grecian story, whose genuine Arianism and res-
plendent renown I never permitted myself to doubt. Reverting to what I have
better assurance of, I shall next note a fact as extraordinary almost as that which
formed the subject of my last communication to the Society, to wit, that some of
Humboldt's characteristics of the Malayo-Polynesian tongues hold good as to the
Gyariing language even more strangely than Rosen's of the Circassian ; so that we
may have possibly, in the unsophisticated tongue of this primitive race of moun-
taineers, situated centrally between the Chinese, the Indo-Chinese, the Tibetans,
and the Altaians, and protected from absorption, assimilation or conquest by their
fastnesses, the main and middle link of that vast chain which unites the insular
and continental nations of the East and the most dispersed scions of the im-
mensely diffused family of the Mongolidoe* ! ! Those who are acquainted with
the famous Kavi Sprache (known to me alas ! only at second hand) will know
what I mean, when I solicit their attention to the accompanying Gyariing vocabu-
lary, as bearing on the face of it evidence, that in the Gyariing tongue almost all
the words in their ordinary! state are dissyllables, whilst I can assert positively
from my own knowledge of the language, that the two syllables may be resolved
into a monosyllabic root and its affix, or into a repeated monosyllabic root. Now
these features (which by the way are very noticeable even in the small samples
accessible to me of the Circassian tongue) Humboldt has denoted as special
characteristics of the Malayo-Polynesian languages ; and they are certainly most
conspicuous attributes of the Gyariing tongue. Thus, in the first column of
the Gyariing vocables, there are thirty-five words, whereof not less than thirty-
one are dissyllables and only four monosyllables, and the dissyllables are all re-
+ Miiller doubts, but the Tibetans cannot mistake, and with them Hor = Turk
and Sok = Mongol. 1 have failed to get fresh access to these people, which I the
more regret, inasmuch as the name Hor, even to the guttural h and to the omissible
r. tallies exactly with the appellation given by themselves to the so-called Lerka
tribe of Singbkum; See Tickell's narrative and vocabulary. I have elsewhere pointed
out the Turkic affinity of one Himalayan tribe (Kuswar) and the Mantchuric of another
(Vayu or Hayu). See paper on the Nilgirians. (J.A.S.B.) Tibet has been absurdly
isolated by philologers and geographers. The northern half of it actually belongs rather
to the Altaic than to the Bodpa tribes, and hence is called by the latter Horyeul and
Sokyeul. I am indebted to the Mundas for the knowledge that Ho is pronounced Klio
and Khor, just as it is to the North.
* It may reconcile some of my readers to this startling announcement to hear that there
are historical or traditional grounds for supposing this very region to be the common
nest and original seat of the Chinese and Tibetan races. See Klaproth's Tail. Histor.
and Mimoires relatifs a VAsie, and Kemusat's Recherches sur les In injurs Tartares.
fl say ordinary state, because, when all the apparatus of composition attaches, they
become polysyllabic. See the sequel, and mark the consequence as to the monosyl-
labic test.
j.jl
74 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
solvable into a monosyllabic root and its customary pre-flx (Ta, mutable into
Ka,) save those (Pyepye, Nyenye) that are formed by re-duplication of the radical.
That Pye 'bird,' and Nye ( cow,' are roots, any one may prove for himself
by turning to their Tibetan and Chinese equivalents ; and that in the Gyarung
tongue the root is in these instances repeated to constitute the current term
or integral word is self-apparent. That, again, in Gyarung, Ta is the common and
almost indespensible prefix, and is mutable into Ka, both liable to euphonic
changes of the vowel, to suit that of the radical, the vocabulary also demonstrates,
testably to any extent by its predecessors of the allied tongues. And if it be.
urged, as in truth it may be, that the above constitution of the vocables
belongs in essence to all the continental tongues, as Humboldt's sagacity divined
it did to all the insular ones, the more frequent use of the prefix and consequent
dissyllabism being all that is exclusively Gyarung, I have still to produce another
Gyarung trait, which it shares with what has been deemed the most primitive
Malayo-Polynesian type; and I shall do so by the following quotation from*
Leyden : — " Few languages present a greater appearance of originality than
the Ta-gala. Though a multitude of its terms agree precisely with those of the
languages just enumerated (the Western Pobynesian), yet the simple terms are so
metamorphosed by a variety of the most simple contrivances, that it becomes
impossible (difficult — B.II.H.) for a person who understands all the original
words in a sentence to recognize them individually, or to comprehend the
meaning of the whole. The artifices which it employs are chiefly the pre-fixing
or post-fixing (or in-fixing — B.H.H.) to the simple vocables (roots) of certain
particles (serviles) which are again combined with others; and the complete or
partial repetition of terms in this re-duplication may be again combined with
other particles." The above, as well as what follows (pp. 211-12) upon Ta-gala
verbs, is in general remarkably coincident with Gyaning, the differences being
such only as, when compared with other allied tongues, to show that the
characteristics, however pre-eminently, are by no means exclusively, Gyaning
among the continental tongues, any more than they are exclusively Ta-gala
among the insular ones. [Here are some samples as significant as Leyden's
illustrations of the Ta-gala verbs. From the root C/iiny, 'to go,' we have
almost indifferently Yaching, Kaching, Docking, Naching, in a present sense,
and Yataching, Kat aching, Dat aching, Tataching, Nataching, in a past sense, with
some speciality of sense as to the na and ta pre-fix that need here be particu-
larized. Next we have Yatachinti, Katachinti, Datachinti, Tatachinti, Natachinti,
meaning, 'one who goes or went, or the goer,' if one's self; and, if any other,
then the series becomes Yatachisi, Katachisi, etc. The negatives are Matachinti
vel Matachm, according to the person, the particle of negation displacing the
first of the pre-fixes indifferently. So from Many, 'to sleep,' Carmdng, Mar-
many, Tatarmdny, Matarmdngti, Tatarmeti, MatarmSsi, ' I sleep, I sleep not, I
slept, I who slept not, thou who sleepest, he who slept not,' or 'the sleepless,'
* Researches, B.A.S., vol. x., p, 209.
TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 75
(other than one's self). From Zo, 'eat,' Tasazo 'feed,' Tasazangti, 'I who feed/
TasazSsi, ' he who feeds,' Masazdngti, ' I who feed not.' Of these I give the
analysis of the last as a sample, Ma, negative pre-fix — Sa, causative in-flx. Zdng,
'I eat,' from the root Zd with suffixed pronoun. Ti mutable with Si, the partici-
pial attributive suffix. These are the simplest verbal forms and the most usual,
whence the prevalent dissyllabic character of the verbs, as of the nouns, as
seen in the vocabulary, consisting of a root and one pre-fix. But the vocabulary,
whilst it demonstrates this, indicates also the more complex forms, put rather too
prominently forward by Leyden in his Ta-gala samples. Thus, in our Gyaning
vocabulary, the words, cry, laugh, be silent, run, or four out of twenty-four
verbs, instead of a single prefix, have a double and even a treble supply in the
simple imperative form there used ; as Da-ka-kru from the root Kid ; Kmui-rc
from the root Me; Na-ka-chdm from the root Chum; Da-na-ra-ggdk from the
root Gi/dL: Hence compounding as before, we have from the last cited simple
term, Danarasagyuk, 'cause to run'; Mada narasagyuk, 'do not cause to run';
Danarasagyungit 'I who cause to run'; Manarasagydti or Madanara-sdgyuti, 'he
who does not cause to run.' I believe also that the reiterative form Matarmdng
is quite as usual as the substitutive form Marmdng, and Matsazangti for
Matamzdiigti, as Masazdngti, time and tense notwithstanding. Repetition and
other changes above illustrated in the prefixes belong much less to the roots,
infixes and suffixes, whether in verbs or nouns, and when the root is repeated,
the suffix is commonly dropt, as has been explained as to substantive. But there
are instances in the verbs of root repeated and yet pre-fix retained, though
the vocabulary affords none such as its Kalarlar, 'round,' which is a root
repeated yet retaining its pre-fix; whilst the adjectives of the vocabulary,
uulike the substantives, also afford several instances of the doubly and trebly
reiterated pre-fix, as Kamgnar, 'sweet,' Ka-ma-gnar from the root gndr, and
Kavandro, 'cold,' Ka-va-na-dro from the root dro. The elided forms, however, and
particularly Kamgnarj show that leaning towards dissyllabism, which has been
dwelt on, perhaps, too strongly, though it assuredly be a most marked feature of
this tongue, and one too which Leyden's mistake as to his own sample verb
shows to be preeminently proper to Ta-gala; for " tolog, to sleep," is not the
radical form of the word, as he assumes, but a compound of the root and its cus-
tomary pre-fix, fa, with the vowel harmonised to that of the root. The pre-
fixes are the great variants, and besides being so much repeated, they can be
transposed and interchanged almost at pleasure, owing to their synonymous
character, and these variations of the pre-fixes, with the elisions consequent on
much reiteration of them, constitute the greatest part of that enigma which
Levden emphasizes ; though it be in the actual u-e of the speech much less ex-
cessive (I still speak of Gyaning) than his sample would lead any one to
suppose. In the above samples of Gyaning I have given the verbs alone,
without the added pronouns of Leydens' Ta-galan instances — such additional
complication being rather suited to create wonderment than to promote sound
knowledge.] Humboldt considers that the Ta-gala (a specimen by the way of
?6 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
the inseparable pre-fix) preserves the primitive type of the whole group ; and
that that type is revealed in the Gyariing I am inclined to assert, without
however forgetting that my investigation is far from complete, and without
insisting so much upon the primitiveness of this type as upon its much more
interesting feature of a connecting bond between the so-called monosyllabic
aptotic and the so-called polysyllabic* non-aptotic classes — classes which appear
to me to have no very deep or solid foundation, much as they have been insisted
on to the obscuration of the higher branches of philology and ethnology, rather
than to their illustration (as I venture to think), and but for which obscuration
our Leydens and our Joneses, our Bopps and our Humboldts, could never have
been found at such extreme apparent diversity of opinion. I may add, with re-
ference to the disputed primitiveness of Ta-gala, owing to its use of the "artifices"
above cited, that throughout the Himalaya and Tibet it is precisely the rudest or
most primitive tongues that are distinguished by useless intricacies, such as the
interminable pronouns, and all the perplexity caused by conjugation by means of
them, with their duals and plurals, and inclusive and exclusive forms of the first
person of both. In this way, Kirauti,* for instance, has thirty-three personal
forms for each tense ; and, as many tense-forms as there are thus constituted,
so many are there of the gerunds and of the participles — a Manchuric trait of
great interest. The more advanced tribes, whether of the continent or of the
islands, have, generally speaking, long since cast away all or most of these
" artifices."
I have thus, in the present and two former communications, shown what a
strange conformity in the essential components of their speech still unites the long
and widely sundered races inhabiting now the Himalaya, Tibet, Indo-China,
Sifan, Altaia, Caucasus and Oceanica; and, as a no less strange conformity of
physical conformation, unites (with one alleged exception) these races, it cannot
much longer be doubted that they all belong to one ethnic family, whose physi-
cal attributes it shall next be my business to help the illustration of by describing
the heretofore unknown people, whose languages have been submitted to inspec-
tion and examination. Before, however, I turn to the physical characteristics, I
must add that all the languages, whose vocables are herewith submitted to the
Society, are, and always have been, devoid of letters and of literature ; what
* Compare the monosyllabic roots and dissyllabic simple vocables of Gyariing with
the sesquipedalians just given. The comparison is pregnant with hints, especially as
there are in the cognate tongues all grades of approximation. Thus, Kona re, 'laugh,'
in Gyariing, with its double pre-fix, is Yere in Linibu with one, and Re in J\lagar
without any ; and thus Talidng, 'air,' in Lepcha, with its pre-fix and suffix, is Tali in
Gyariing, with pre-fix only, and Li or Le in Burmese, without either. Innumerable
instances like this make me conclude that the Gyariing differs only in degree, not in
kii d, notwithstanding that its verb, like that of the Ta-gala, certainly presents an
extraordinary and seemingly unique spectacle in some aspects, but not in all ; for, in
the sentence tize-kaze papun, 'he called them to feast,' though the root za, 'to eat,' be
repeated, and each time with a differently vowelled servile attached ; yet the combina-
tion is not grotesque, nor the root smothered.
* See a memoir on this tongue and another on the Hayu vcl Vayu tongue in the
forthcoming Kos. of the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal. (Printed in 1857 very
incorrectly. Corrected copies sent to Pott, Lassen, Schieiher, etc. )
TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. J J
writing there is among these races being confined to the Tibet-trained monks,
whose religious ministry they all accept, and who (the monks) use the Tibetan
system of writing applied solely to the Tibetan language, and never to that of their
flocks, the several races now in question, or any of them.
I cannot learn that in Tibet the Sokpo or the Horpa ever employ any system
of writing of their own, though I need not add (assuming their identification to
be just) that the Mongols and the Eastern Turks have each their own system quite
distinct from the Tibetan. Having always considered the physical evidence* of
race quite as important as the lingual, and the one as the true complement of
the other, I have not failed to use the opportunity of access to the people
whose vocables are now submitted in order to note their physical traits.
The following are ths chief results of that investigation: —
Amdoan. Horpa. Gyarung. Manyak.
I. II. III. IV.
Height without shoes 5.8.| 6.7.| 5.3.0 5.4.0
Length of head, from crown to
chin (with calipers) 0.8.^ 0.8.| 0.9.0 0.9.±
Girth of head 1.10.0 1.9.J l.lO.f l.lO.f
Length of head, fore and aft, or
forehead to occiput 0.7.f 0.7.| 0.8.0 0.8.0
Width of head, between parietes 0.6.| 0.6.0 0.6.§ 0.6.|
Crown of head to hip 2.4. £ 2.4.0 2.3. £ 2.3.0
Hip to heel 3.3.| 3.3.£ 2.11.J 3.1.0
Width between the shoulders . . 1.4.0 1.1.0 1.1. J 1.4.0
Girth of chest 3.1.0 2.9.0 2.11.J 2.11.|
Length of arm and hand 2.6.| 2.6.0 2.4.J 2.4.0
Ditto of arm 1.0.0 1.0.0 0.11.4 0J1.J
Ditto of fore-arm 0.11.0 0.10.0 0.9.^ 0.9.3
Ditto of hand 0.8.0 0.7.| 0.7.| 0.7.£
Ditto of thigh 1.8.0 1.7.0 1.6.£ 1.7.0
Ditto of leg to ankle 1.4J 1.5.0 1.3.0 1.5.0
Ditto of foot 0.11.0 0.10.0 0.9.4 0.9.£
Width of hand 0.4. f 0.4.| 0.4.0 0.4.0
Ditto of foot 0.4.f 0.4.J 0.4.| 0.4.0
Girth of thigh 1.9.0 1.4.} 1.6.| 1.7.4
Ditto of calf 1.3.4 LLf L2.0 1.1.J
Ditto of fore-arm 0.11.0 0.9.| 0.10.0 0.9.|
No. 1. — A native of Amdo, aged thirty-five years, a finely formed and very
strong man, capable of carrying three maunds or 250 pounds over these mountains,
which he has done several times, in order to turn a penny during his so-
* Some attempts have reeently been made (see last vol. of Brit. Assoc, and Journal
of Roy. As. Soc. ) to disparage the value of this evidence. But no one well acquainted
with the Tartars in various remote locations could for a moment think of so doing. I
refer with confidence to Dr. Buchanan's remarks on the subject in vol. V. As. Res.
KK
78 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
journ here, though the lax state of his muscles shows that he is usually an
idler, and not now in training for such work, nor much used to it.
A Gelling or monk of the mendicant class, and of course a shaveling, so that
his head has been examined with unusual advantage. Five feet eight and a half
inches tall, and more than proportionably broad or bulky, with large bones and ample
muscle, not however showing any bold development, the surface on the contrary
being smooth and even, like the body of an idler; nor fat at all, but well fleshed.
Colour of the skin, a very pale clear brown, of isabelline hue, like dry earth, or
dirty linen, or unbleached paper ; not yellow, nor ruddy at all. No trace of red
on the cheeks, which are moderately full. Colour of eyes, dark brown ; of hair,
generally, black, but that of moustache, auburn. No hair on chest, nor on
legs or arms. Moustache spare. No beard nor whisker. Hair of head, so far
as traceable, abundant, strong and straight. Cranium not compressed nor de-
pressed; not raised pyramidally, yet brachycephalic rather than dolichocephalic,
and the occiput truncated or flush with the thick neck, but not flattened.
Vertical view of the head, ovoid not oval, widest between the ears, and thence
narrowing equally to the forehead and to the occiput. Facial angle good. Profile
inconspicuous. Contour of the face (front view) rather ovoid than angular or
lozenge-shaped, the cheek-bones having no conspicuous lateral saliency nor the
forehead and chin any noticeable attenuation. Forehead sufficiently high and
broad, and not appearing otherwise from any unusual projection of the orbitar
periphery or of the zygomata. Eyes sufficiently large and not noticeably ob-
lique, but remote from each other, and flush with the cheek and the upper lid,
drooping and constricted to the inner canthus, which is large and tumid. Nose,
good, straight ; the bridge well raised between the eyes and the terminal part, nor
spread nor thickened, though the nostrils be shorter and rounder than in Euro-
peans, and the saliency of the whole organ less than in them. Ears large and
standing out from the head, but occupying the usual relative position. Mouth
good, but large, with fine vertical teeth, not showing the least symptom of prog-
nathism in the jaws. Very full lips, but not gaping, nor at all Negro-like in
their tumidity. Chin not retiring, nor yet roundly salient, but level with the
gums, or in the same plane with the teeth, and square and strong, as well as
the jaws, which afford ample room in front for an uncrowded set of beautiful
teeth. Body well-proportioned, but somewhat long (as well as massive and square)
in the trunk and in the arms, relatively to the legs. Hands and feet well made
and large, but rather as to breadth than length. Head well set on the short thick
neck, and shoulders high. Chest, splendid, wide and deep, and general form
good. Expression Mongolian, (but not at all markedly so as to features,) and calm
and placidly good-natured. Ears bored, but not distended ; and tattooing or
other disfigurement of the skin quite unknown to all these races, as I may say
once for all.
No. II. — A Horpa of Tango, west of Gyfiriing, towards Amdo, named Isaba.
Age thirty -eight years. A man of good height (five feet seven and a half inches)
TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 79
and figure, but far less powerful than the Amdoan, and somewhat darker in
colour. Spare of flesh, hut not actually meagre. Colour, a pale brown, without
yellow or red, like all the Himalayana and Tibetans, and the eye, of a dark
clear brown, as usual with them. No trace of ruddiness on cheek. Hair of
the head, moustache and whisker, pure black. Hair of head, long, straight,
strong, abundant. Moustache small and feeble. Whisker rather ampler. No
beard, nor a trace of hair on the chest, back or limbs. Head longer (fore and
aft) than wide, but scarcely dolichocephalic, though not truncated occipitallv,
nor compressed, nor depressed, nor pyramidised. Vertical view, oval, the wider
end being the posteal or occipital, and being wider there than between the ears
Facial angle, good. Contour of the face long and oval, without any trace of the
lozence breadth and angularity. Forehead^ narrow and rather low, but not re-
tiring. Cheek bones not salient laterally nor the frontal sinuses or orbits pro-
minent. Ears large and loose. Eyes of good size, remote, but not noticeably
oblique, though the inner angle be tumid with the usual constriction thereto
of the upper lid, which somewhat narrows the parting of the lids. Nose straight,
not very salient, yet well raised between the eyes, and not dilated towards the
tip, and the nares elliptic and long, but the bridge nevertheless broad and ob-
tusely rounded. Mouth .good, but large and prominent from the fulness of the
lips,* which, however, are not gaping nor are the teeth at all prognathously
inclined, well made and vertically set, but not sound. Chin not pointed, nor
heavy, nor retiring, nor jaws unduly large and angular; whence, with the non-
saliency of the zygomata, the face takes a good and Arian contour. Figure good,
almost elegant, but the arms rather long, and the legs rather short in comparison
of the European form. Hands and feet well made and well proportioned. Hair
plaited into a tail, a la Chinoise. Ears bored, but not dilated, and furnished
with small ear-rings. Expression pleasing, and cast of features but faintly
Mongolian.
No. III. — A Gyaning of Tazar, north of Tachindo, by name Maching, and by
age thirty-three years. Height five feet three inches, or much shorter than
either of the above. A well-made smallish man. Bony and muscular develop-
ment moderate, especially the former. In moderate flesh, but thigh and calf very
fine ; arms much less so. Arms longish. Legs shortish. Colour of skin, a pale
earthy brown or isabelline hue, without the least mixture of yellow or of red ;
like Chinese, but deeper toned. No ruddiness on the spare cheeks. Eye dark
hazel. Colour of hair in all parts uniformly black ; long, straight, abundant,
strong, on head ; spare on upper lip ; none on chin, nor on body, nor on limbs.
Cranium large, nor compressed, nor depressed, nor pj^ramidally raised towards the
crown, though there be a semblance of that sort from the width of the zygomata
(but this feature belongs to the face). Occiput not truncated posteally. Fronto-
occipital axis the longer and vertical view oval with the wide end backwards,
*It is not so much the fullness of the lips as a certain thickening- of the gums,
particularly those of the upper incisive or trout teeth common to Cis- and Trans-
Himalayans.
80 TRIBES OF NORTHERN TIBET.
the occiput being conspicuously wider than the frontal region, or than the
parietal, and the maximum occipital breadth lessening regularly forwards to the
forehead. Facial angle good, with a vertical, but inconspicuous profile. Contour
of the face (front view) lozenge-shaped, widest between the cheek-bones, which
project much laterally, and are flattened to the front, causing great breadth
of face just below the eyes, whence there is a regular narrowing upwards and
downwards. Forehead sufficiently high and not retiring, but narrowed appa-
rently upwards, owing to the salient zygomata and molars. Frontal sinus not
salient. Eye smallish and not well opened nor hollowed out from the cheek,
and upper lid drooping and drawn to the inner, inclined and tumid canthus.
Eyes wide apart and oblique. Nose long, straight, thick, with a broad base be-
tween the eyes, where, however, th# bridge is not flat, but raised into a wide
low arch. Width great there, and spreading into an expanded fleshy termina-
tion, with broad alse and large round nostrils. Mouth large and salient, yet
good. Lips moderate and closed, and teeth vertically set, and very fine in shape
and colour. Chin pretty good, not retiring, nor yet projecting, flush with the
teeth and somewhat squared, as also the large jaws. Ears long and loose.
Figure good, with head well set on ; neck sufficiently loug ; chest deep and wide,
and well made hands and feet. Hair worn plaited into a pig tail. Ears bored,
but declaredly contrary to the custom of his country, and not distended. A very
Chinese face and figure, and belonging to one who has, in his character, a deal
of the shrewdness tending to knavery that marks the Chinaman.
No. IV. — The Manyaker is forty years old, and bears the euphonious name of
I'drophiincho. He is a native of Rakho, six days south of Tachindo, and by pro-
fession a Gelung or mendicant friar; and a cross made ugly fellow he is, as
one could wish to see, with round shoulders and short neck, but stout and
good-tempered exceedingly; and moreover, accomplished in reading, writing,
drawing and carving, like most of the regular troops of Lamaism to which corps
he belongs, though to the heterodox branch of it, or Bonpa sect, called by
him Beunpo or Peunpo, and which he has enabled me to say is no other than
Tantrika Buddhism, or what is commonly called Shamanism.* This very inter-
esting and important discovery I therefore make no apology for inserting here,
* In saying that Shamanism is nothing but Tantrika Buddhism, I speak most ad-
visedly, and fully aware of the opinions I oppose. That the Bonpa also are Buddhists,
there ean be no doubt, and my friend I'dro's statements and drawings show that his
sect follow the Gyiit or Tantras, which, though canonical, are in bad odour, and have
been so since the Gelukpa reform. A Bonpa and a Moslem are alike odious to the
orthodox in Tibet, though the Bonpas have many Vihars of high name and date all
over the country. Since this was written, I have found some interesting traces of
the existence of the Bonpa sect in the Himalaya, where the Murmi tribe for instance
still call their exorcist Bonpa. The probable general solution is, that both the Brah-
manists and the Buddhists, of all the various divisions of those creeds, adopted
largely into their systems the prior superstitions of the country, whence in Java, in
Nepal, in Ava, as in India, Buddhist and Brahmanical remains exhibit so much of a
common character, sometimes wearing the aspect of Vaishnaism, more commonly than
of Saivaism. Compare my remarks on the subject {apud volume on the Buddhism of
Nepal) with Leyden's Fabian and Yule on the Remains of Pagan (apud A. S. J. B.)
Yule describes exactly the Padmapani, Manjusri, ete., of Nepal, and I have myself
found them at Karnagurh on the Ganges.
TKTBES OF NORTHERN TIBET. 8 1
though it be somewhat out of place ; and as I am digressing, I may as well add
that to confound the Lamas with the Gelungs as Hue and Gabet invariably do,
is a worse error than it would be to confound the Brahmans with the Pandits in
India. To return to my friend Idro, whose shaven head has afforded me a second
excellent opportunity for closely examining the cranial characters of these races,
I proceed to note that he is a man of moderate height (five feet four inches), but
strongly made, with large bones and plenty of muscle, but no fat. Colour, a pale
whitey pure brown. No trace of red in the spare cheeks, winter though it be.
Eye, dark rich brown, and hair throughout unmixed and pure black. Like the
others, he has none of the Esau characteristic, but on the contrary is, as usual,
scant of hair, having not a trace of it on the body or limbs, and not much on
the face. No beard. No whisker. A very wretched lean moustache, and a spare
straight eyebrow. Cranium brachycephalic and large. Vertical view of the head
ovoid not oval, widest between the ears, as in the Amdoan. Thence regularly and
equally narrowed to the frontal and occipital extremities. No compression, nor
depression of the cranium, but on the contrary a distinct pyramidal ascension from
a broad base, the point of crinal radiation being somewhat conically raised from
the interaureal and widest part of the scull. Occiput truncate and flattened,
that is, not projecting beyond the neck, nor rounded posteally, like most heads.
Facial angle pretty good, but rather deficient in vertically of profile. Contour
of the face lozenge shape owing to the large laterally salient cheek bones, though
the forehead be not very noticeably narrowed (except with reference to its bulg-
ing base), nor the chin pointed. Forehead sufficiently good, high but some
what compressed and retiring, and appearing more so by reason of the heavy frontal
sinuses and zygomata, which project beyond the temples towards the sides and
front. Ears big and salient. Eyes remote and oblique, with the inner angle down
and tumid, and the upper lid drooping and drawn to the inner canthus. Nose
rather short, straight, not level with the eyes, nor yet much raised to separate
them, nor elsewhere. Not clubbed at the end, but the alse spreading, and the
nares large and round. Mouth large and forward, with very thick lips, but no
prognathism, the teeth being vertical and the lips not gaping so as to expose
them. Teeth well formed and well set in an obtusely convex large arch,
those of the upper jaw, however, overhanging those of the lower. Chin rather
retiring, or flat and square. The partial retirement of the chin and large frontal
sinuses are what mar the vertically of the profile, which moreover shows little of
nasal and much of oral projection. Figure bad, with thick goitrous neck, high
forward shoulders, and somewhat bowed legs. Hands and feet well made.
Muscular development of arms poor, of legs good. A thoroughly Mongolian face,
but the ugliness in part redeemed by the good-natured, placid, yet somewhat
dull, expression.
Note. — The orthography of the comparative vocabulary is in general" that
sanctioned by the Asiatic Society of Bengal, but there are a few deviations
necessitated by the peculiar articulation of these races, whose gallic j and u are
of incessant recurrence. I have represented the former sound by zy and the latter
KKl
82 TRIBES OP NORTHERN TJBET.
by eu. Both sounds are found in the French word feu. The system of tones
or accents, so important for discriminating the many otherwise-identical roota
in these tongues, there is no practicable method of doing justice to. But I
have marked the chief one, or abrupt final, y an underscored h, thus h. In
Thochu and in Horpa, the h, kh, and gh, have often, nay generally, a harsh Arabic
utterance. I use the short vague English a and e, as in cat, get, for their
common equivalents in these tongues, but u has always the oo sound, whether
short or long. It so occurs in English though rarely, as in put, pudding. The
continental (European) and Eastern system of the vowels is that pursued, and
the long sound of each is noted by accent superscribed. But there is a great
evil attendant on this Jonesian use of accent as marking quantity ; for the Tartar
accent denotes the radical syllable or syllables, irrespective altogether of the
long or short sound of vowels. I cannot, however, at present, remedy this evil,
though hereafter I shall use the accent to denote roots putting it over the end of
the radical syllable, whether ending in vowel or consonant. Quoad vowels, mine
is the common vocalic system, the English being wholly beside the mark. Y is
always a consonant. It blends with many others to give them a sliding sound as
in the zy, above instanced. It gives S the sound of Sh, as in the Syan (Shan)
tribe's name. It must never be made a vowel, a Vanglaise, for that makes mono-
syllables dissyllabic, and totally changes the proper sounds of words. The same
as to w, which we English are however more familiar with. From 6, I make the
diphthong ai; from a that of au; from 6 that of on, sounded as in aye aye, hawfinch,
hoio; which, with the gallic eu (beurre), are invariably diphthongs, each with a
single blended sound. If two vowels come together and require separate utterance,
the latter is superscribed with two dots, as dai. I have marked off the pre-
fixes (tir-mi, 'man,' see Gyarung column) to facilitate access to the root and
comparison on a large scale, such as that lately employed to illustrate ethnic
affinities. This and the like marking off of the suffixes will be a great aid to
those who wish to make such comparisons without knowledge of these languages.
But the procedure is hardly correct, since the root and its prefix in particular
are apt to be blended [in utterance by transfer of the accent (mi, \tir-mi), and
since the sense also of the roots is occasionally as dependant (though in a difierent
way) on that of their prefixes, as it is in regard to the prepositions of the Arian
tongues (tir-mi, 'man': ti-mi, 'fire'). Nevertheless these important particles are
liable to a large range of mutations, synonymous as well as differential, merely
euphonic, as well as essential, whilst some of the tongues use them very amply,
and others very rarely. Add to these features the infixes and the suffixes, with
the occasional change of place and function between all these, and you have
before you the causes of the differences of these languages, which are often so
operative as to merge their essential affinity and make it indiscernible, except by
those who, knowing the roots, can pursue them and the servile portions of the
vocables through their various metamorphoses and transpositions.*
* Compare in Tibeto-Himalayan and Indo-Chinese series, as follows : —
Day. — Nyi'-ma, Ma-ni, Nye'-n-ti, Nhi-ti-ma, Sak-ni'. Root Nyi.
Eye. — J -mile, Mi-do, Mi-kha, Ta-i-myek, Mye-t-si. Root Mig.
Dog. — Khi-cha, Ko-chu, C'h6i-ma, Khive, Ta-kwi, Ka-zeu. Root Kliyi.
Ripe. — Kas-sman, Mhai-ti, Mhin, Min-bo. Root sMin.
" Sour. — Kuch-chur, Kyur-bo, Da-chu'. Root sKyur.
Hear. — Kliep-che, Nap-aye, Ta-che-n. Root She.
These are extreme cases, perhaps, of mutation ; but they are therefore all the better
adapted to illustrate my meaning ; and links enough will be found in the yoeabu-
laries to bind them surely together.
6. ON THE COLONIZATION OP THE HIMALAYA BY EUROPEANS.*
As the interesting subject of the fitness of the Himalaya for European coloni-
zation is beginning to excite the attention of individuals and of the Government,
it may be worth while to state distinctly may own conviction on the subject,
together with the chief grounds of that conviction, because I have resided some
thirty years in the Central and Eastern parts of the range, and have also served
awhile in the Western, and all that time my attention has been directed to studies
calculated to make my observation and experience more effective.
I say, then, unhesitatingly, that the Himalaya generally is very well calculated
for the settlement of Europeans, and I feel more and more convinced that the
encouragement of colonization therein is one of the highest and most important
duties of the Government.
In the long, and throughout the globe quite unparalleled, gradation of heights,
from the plains to the snows, every variety of climate is found with correspondent
capabilities for the successful culture of various products suited to the wants of
Europeans, for their own consumption or for profitable sale ; and in this extra-
ordinary gradation of heights, the high and the low are juxtaposed in a manner
alike favourable to the labours of the healthful and to the relief of the ailing.
A healthy cultivator of our race could have his dwelling at four to six thousand
feet, and his farms, both there aud at various higher and lower elevations, yet still
close to his abode ; so that quasi-tropical and quasi-European products might
be raised by him with the greatest facility ; and in defect of health and strength,
the colonist, like the visitor, would enjoy the vast advantage of entirely changing
his climate without cost or fatigue of journey, besides having the additional
resource of easy access to medicinal waters of universal diffusion and of proved
efficacy in many kinds of ailments. The greatest variety of climate has of
course relation to the transverse section of the Himalaya, or that from plains
to snows ; but the longitudinal section, or the S. E. and N. W. one, likewise
presents as much and the same variety of climate as is proper to the plains in
Bengal, Benares, and the north-western provinces; and it is quite a mistake to
allege of the South-East Himalayas, or of Bengal, that their climate differs only
for the worse from the drier climate of the hills or plains further west and north.
* Written in 1856.
84 COLONIZATION OF THE HIMALAYA.
Undoubtedly, the South-East Himalaya has much less sun and much more
moisture* than the North-West Himalaya. But those Europeans, who have
experienced the effects of the climate of both, frequently prefer that of the former,
and it is quite certain that, in the past twenty years, the South-East Himalaya
has suffered much less from epidemics, and has also enjoyed a complete exemption
from those severe dysenteries and fevers which have afflicted the denizens
of the North-West Himalaya. It is as certain that the obscured sun of the
South-East Himalaya is the cause of the difference,§ and that, though our clouds
and mists may hurt our popular reputation with strangers, they are welcome to
ourselves from their experienced and admitted beneficialness. Cloudy and misty
as is our climate for five to six months, rheumatism and pulmonary affections are
unknown. That the Himalaya, generally speaking is a region eminently
healthful, can be doubted by no competent judge, and is demonstrable at once, and
readily, by pointing to the finely developed muscles,pure skins, cheerful countenances,
and universally well-formed strong-boned bodies of the native inhabitants, whose
health and strength, and capacity of enduring toil and carrying heavy burdens, are
as notorious, as are their exemption from bodily malformations and from most of
the direst diseases to which flesh is heir, as well in the tropics as in the high
latitudes of Europe — results owing to the preeminent equability and temperateness
of the climate ,t added to the simple active habits of the people.
The fearful epidemics of the plains seldom penetrate the Himalayas, which,
moreover, seem to have a positive exemption from endemic diseases, or those proper
to any given country. For forty years cholera has ravaged the plains continually
almost. But in all that period Nepal has been visited only twice and Darjeeling
scarcely at all. In the same forty years at Kathniandu, only two. deaths (Mr.
Stuart and Lieutenant Young) have occurred among Europeans, and both those
were occasioned by diseases wholly apart from local influences ; and in the escort
of the Resident, the salubrity in my time was so great, that promotion came hardly
to be#calculated on at all, and a Sepahee would be a Sepahee still, after fifteen to
twenty years' service. J
The Civil medical statistics of Nepal, as of Darjeeling, have always told the
same story ; and if the Military statistics of the latter place have been, till lately,
* The fall of rain is no accurate test of mean moisture, but the following facts have
their value : — Mean annual fall of rain at Darjeeling 130 inches ; at Kathmandu, in the
Valley of Nepal, 60 ; at Simla 70 ; at Cherrapmiji 500. It must always be remem-
bered, that the amount, of rain and moisture at any given spot in the Himalaya depends
greatly on the number of covering ridges intervening between such spot and the
course of the great column of vapour borne by the monsoon from the ocean. The
fact, that the fall of rain in the Concan is five-fold what it is in the Deccan, owing
to the intervention of the Ghat range, will make this more intelligible.
§ Very imperfect sanitary arrangements to the north-west, where large multitudes are
assembled yearly such as are unknown to the Sanitaria of the south-east, must be added
in explanation of the dysenteries and fevers noted.
t In my sitting-room, which is freely ventilated, the thermometer ranges only from
60 to 65, day and night, between the end of June and the end of September. In
December, January, and February, the range is about the same, or but slightly greater.
J The Escort or Honorary Guard formerly consisted of 200 men ; it now consists of
100.
COLONIZATION OF THE HIMALAYA. 85
le3S favourable, the reasons of this had nothing- to do with the hill climate, bnt
resulted wholly from the senseless selection of cases sent up; the absurd neglect of
seasons in sending up and taking- down of the invalids ; and lastly, the shameful
abandonment of all care and supervision of the men on the way up and down.
The appearance of the European children at Darjeeling might alone suffice to
prove the suitableness of the climate of the Himalaya at six to eight thousand feet
for European colonization, confirmed, as such evidence is, by that of the aspect
and health of such adult Europeans as came here with uninjured constitutions,
and have led an active life since their arrival. Finer specimens of manly vigour
the world could not show ;% and though none of the individuals I allude to have
lately toiled all day in the open air at agricultural labours, yet I am credibly in-
formed that some of them did for several years after their arrival here, and
with perfect impunity; their agricultural pursuits having been abandoned for
reasons quite apart from either injured health or inability to support them-
selves and families comfortably by such labours.
That Europeans would sustain injury from exposure during agricultural labours
at any period§ of the year, seems therefore refuted by fact ; and when it is
remembered that such persons would be working here, as at home, amid an in-
digenous arboreal vegetation of oaks, hollies, chesnuts, sycamores, elms, horn-beams,
birches, alders, elders, willows, and, more westerly, pines and firs, such* a fact de-
rives from such an analogy double strength ; and the attempted inference from both
is further justified by the healthful growth in the Himalaya of such of our own
cereals and vegetables and fruits as we have thus far tried to introduce, with
the sole exception of delicate and soft pulped fruits, not of an early or spring matur-
ing kind, such as peaches, grapes, and the like. These rot, instead of ripening in the
central region of the Himalaya, owing to the tropical rains and rarity of sun-shine
at the ripening season.
But such soft fruits as become mature before the rains set in, as strawberries,
come to perfection, as do all hard fruits, such as apples. There is, in fact, no end
no end of the mineral and vegetable wealth of the Himalaya, and if the absence of
flat ground, with the severity of the tropical monsoon or rainy season, present
considerable drawback to agricultural success, on the other hand the endless
inequalities of surface offer a variety of temperature and of exposure, together with
signal modification even of the element of moisture and rain, all highly conducive
to the advantageous cultivation of numerous and diverse products proper to the
soil or imported from elsewhere.
Temperature changes regularly in the ratio of 3° diminution of heat for every
thousand feet of height gained ; and every large ridge crossing ths course of the
J We may now add that the children and, in a few instances, grandchildren born
at Darjeeling of the Europeans in question, and the children generally of the gentlemen
resident there, are as healthy and vigorous as any children in Europe.
§ Agriculture does not require much exposure at the hottest season, when the crops
are growing.
* The beech is the only European tree not found in the Himalaya. The rest are
Tery common.
86 COLONIZATION OF THE HIMALAYA.
monsoon modifies almost as remarkably the amount of rain in the several tracts
covered by such ridges. The ratio of decrease of heat with elevation, which has
just been stated, must however be remembered to be an average and to have
reference to the shade, not to the sun, for it has been found that the direct
rays of the sun are as powerful at Darjeeling as in the plains, owing probably to
the clearness of our atmosphere ; and this is the reason why our clouds are so
welcome and beneficial during the hottest months of the year. In other words,
the constant cloudiness of that season is beneficial to the European. It is otherwise,
however, as regards his crops, which being ripening at that period, would be
benefited by a clearer sky; and thus it is that a certain degree of oppugnancy
exists between the sites most congenial to the European and to his crops ; for,
whilst a height of six to seven thousand, perhaps, might be most congenial to him,
one of four to five thousand would certainly suit them better, not so much for the
average higher temperature, as for the larger supply of sun-shine. But the oppug-
nancy is only one of degree, and whilst four thousand is a very endurable
climate for the European, there is no reason why he should not have his abode,
as is the frequent custom of the country, at a somewhat higher level than that of
his fields, should he find such an arrangement advantageous upon the whole.
The fertility of the soil is demonstrated by the luxuriance t>f the arboreal and
shrub vegetation, a luxuriance as great in degree as universal in prevalence. True
this luxuriance has its evils* and, in its present unpruncd state, may be one
great cause why the feeding of flocks and herds is scantily pursued by the people,
and without much success, speaking generally ; for there are exceptions even
now, and European energy would soon multiply these exceptions, besides
grappling successfully with the presumed source of the evil, or too much and too
rank vegetation, not to add, that, in the districts next the snows and Tibet, that
hyper-luxuriance ceases, and herds and flocks abound, and the latter yield fleeces
admirable for either fineness or length of fibre.f The soil consists of a deep bed
of very rich vegetable mould from one to three feet deep, to preserve which from
being carried away by the tropical rains after the removal of its natural cover of
forest and under-growth, by terracing and other known expedients, must be the
colonist's first care, for the underlying earth is almost always a hungry red clay
but happily one whose tenacity and poverty are much qualified by better ingredients
derived from the debris of the gneisses and schists that constitute the almost sole
* The paucity of graminea? is, I believe, a feature of the Himalayan Botany, and
every observant person must notice the absence of meadows and grazing land and hay
fields throughout the hills. But this is to be accounted for and explained by the
uncommon strength and abundance of the indigenous vegetation ; for, whenever a tract
of land is kept clear, grass springs up ; and the European grasses that have been im-
ported, including clovers and lucern, flourish exceedingly, the moist climate being very
favourable to them. Such, however, are the richness and high flavour of the native
vegetation, that large and small cattle, even when provided with the finest European
pasture, are apt to desert it in order to graze at large amid the forests and copses.
I here speak of the central region of the Himalaya, wherein leeches are the great enemies
of the cattle, aud a peculiar disease of the hoofs to which they are subject.
fThe samples I sent to Europe of the wool of the sheep and goats of the Northern
region of the Himalaya and of Tibet were valued at seven to nine pence per pound.
COLONIZATION OF THE HIMALAYA. 87
rocks. The argillaceous constituents of the soil are perhaps in good proportion ;
the siliceous, perhaps, rather too abundant ; the calcareous, deficient. Heretofore,
the superficial mould has been the sole stay of the agriculturist and floriculturist.
How far that would continue to be the case under abler culture, I know not. Bui,
so loug as it did continue, the caution above given would demand the most vigilant
and incessant attention.
The common European cereals, or wheat, barley, rye, aud oats, are little heeded
in the Himalaya, where I never saw crops equal those grown in various parts of
the plains. But this, though no doubt attributable in some measure to a deal of the
Himalayan population being located at heights above those where, in the present
forest encumbered state of the country, a sufficiency of summer sun for such
crops can be safely calculated upon, is likewise attributable in part to the preference
for rices, maizes, sorghums, panicums or millets, buck-wheat, and amaranth, on the
part of the people, whose cultivation of wheat is most careless, without manure,
even in double-cropped and old lands, and the plant is allowed to be over-run, whilst
growing, by wild hemp or artemesia, or other social weed of most frequent
occurrence in the Himalaya. Observe, too, that the system of double cropping
now occasions the sacrifice of the despised wheat crop which is a spring one to the
cherished autumal crop which is a rice one; and that were the former allowed due
consideration and treated with reference to its furnishing a main article of food,
instead of being regarded merely with reference to the still, as is now very generally
the case among the native population, we might reasonably expect to see fine crops
of wheat as high at least as five thousand feet and more, especially so when the
clearance of the land, conducted judiciously, was enabled to produce its due and
experienced effects in augmenting the sun-shine and diminishing the rain and mist
in such properly cleared tracts. Heretofore, skill aud energy have done absolutely
nothing, in these or other respects, for Himalayan agriculture, and yet there is
no country on earth where more advantage might be derived from skill and energy
applied to the culture of agricultural products. As already said, the infinite
variety of elevation and of exposure (both as to heat and moisture), together with
the indefinite richness of the soil, as proved by the indigenous tree and shrub and
other vegetation, are premises one can hardly fail to rest soundly upon in
prognosticating the high success of European culture of the Himalavan slopes,
notwithstanding the drawbacks I have enumerated. There need hardly be any
end to the variety of the products, and good success must attend the cultivation of
many of them, after a little experience shall have taught the specialities of the
soil and climate, so that the subject should be incessantly agitated till the
Government and the public are made fully aware of its merits. How much
iteration is needed, inay be illustrated by the simple mention of the fact, that
the fitness of the Himalayas for tea-growing was fully ascertained twenty-five
years ago in the valley of Nepal, a normal characteristic region, as well in
regard to position* as to elevation. Tea seed3 and plants were procured from
* It is equi-distant from snows and plains, and has a mean elevation of 4,500 feet.
88 COLONIZATION OF THE HIMALAYA.
China through the medium of the Cashmere merchants then located at Kathniandii.
They were sown and planted in the Residency garden, where they nourished
greatly, flowering and seeding as usual, and moreover, grafts ad libitum were
multiplied by means of the nearly allied Eurya (Camellia) kisi, which, in the
valley of Nepal, as elsewhere, throughout the Himalaya, is an indigenous and
most abundant species. These favourable results were duly announced at the
time to Dr. Abel, Physician to the Governor General, an accomplished person,
with special qualifications, for their just appreciation. And yet, in spite of all
this, twenty years were suffered to elapse before any effective notice of so im-
portant an experiment could be obtained.
I trust, therefore, that the general subject of the high capabilities of the climate
and soil of the Himalayas, and their eminent fitness for European colonization
having once been taken up, will never be dropped till colonization is a "fait
accompli"1 and that the accomplishment of this greatest, surest, soundest,
and simplest of all political measures for the stabilitation of the British power
in India, may adorn the annals of the present Viceroy's administration.
But observe, I do not mean wholesale and instantaneous colonization, for any
such I regard as simply impossible ; nor, were it possible, would I advocate it.
The distance and unpopularity of India, however, would preclude all rational
anticipation of any such colonization, whatever might be the wish to effect
it. What I mean is, looking to these very obstacles and drawbacks, seeming
and real, that some systematic means should be used to reduce their apparent
and real dimensions, to make familiarly and generally known the cheapest
methods and actual cost of reaching India ; to afford discriminating aid in some
cases towards reaching it and settling in it ; and to shew that, in regard to the
Himalaya, the vulgar dread of Indian diseases is wholly baseless — to show
also, that its infinite variety of juxtaposed elevations, with correspondent
differences of climate, both as to heat and moisture, and the unbounded richness of
its soil at all elevations, offer peculiar and almost unique advantages (not a fiftieth
part of the surface being now occupied) to the colonist, as well on the score of
health as on that of opportunity, to cultivate a wonderful variety of products ranging
from the tropical nearly to the European.
A word as to the native population, in relation to the measure under contempla-
tion. In the first place, the vast extent of unoccupied land would free the
Government from the necessity of providing against wrongful displacement;
and, in the second place, the erect spirit and freedom from disqualifying
prejudices, proper to the Himalayan population, would at once make their
protection from European oppression easy, and would render them readily
subservient under the direction of European energy and skill to the more
effectual drawing forth of the natural resources of the region. Located himself
at an elevation he might find most conducive to his health, the colonist
might, on the very verge of the lower region (see Essay on Physical Geography
•f Himdlaya, in another part of this work), effectually command the great
COLONIZATION OP THE HIMALAYA. 89
resources for traffic in timber, drugs, dyes, hides,* horns, ghee, and textile materials,
not excluding silk, which that region affords; whilst, if he chose to locate him-
self further from the plains and devote himself to agriculture and sheep-breeding,
he might make his election among endless sites in the central and higher regions
(see paper above referred to) of the Himalaya, of a place where these or those
sorts of cereal flourished best, and where cattle and sheep could be reared, under
circumstances of surface, vegetation, and temperature as various as the imagination
can depict, but all more or less propitious ;■ the steep slopes and abundant vegetation,
rank but nutritious, of the central region, giving place, in the higher region, to a
drier air, a more level surface, and a scanter and highly aromatic vegetr ion,
peculiarly suited to sheep and goats, whose fleeces in that region would well pay
the cost of transport to the most distant markets.
Not that I would in general hold out to the colonist the prospect of growing
rich by the utmost use of the above indicated resources for the accumulation of
wealth — to which might, and certainly in due course would, be added those of the
Trans-Himalayan commerce || — but would rather fix his attention, primarily, at
least upon the certain prospect of comfort, of a full belly, a warm back, and a
decent domicile, or, in other words, of food, clothes, and shelter for himself, his wife,
and children, unfailing with the most ordinary prudence and toil, and such, as to
quality and quantity, as would be a perfect god-send to the starving peasantry
of Ireland and of the Scotch Highlands. These are the settlers I would, but with-
out discouraging the others, primarily encourage by free grants for the first five
years, and by a very light rent upon long and fixed leases thereafter, looking tu
compensation in the general prestige:): of their known forthcomingness on the spot,
and assured that, with the actual backing upon occasions of political stress and
difficulty of some fifty to one hundred thousand loyal hearts and stalwart bodies of
Saxon mould, our empire in India might safely defy the world in arms against it.
* Countless herds of cattle are driven for pasturage annually, during the hot months,
from the open plains into the Tarai and Bhaver, and of the thousands that die there, the
hides and horns are left to rot, for want of systematic purchase, and this whilst the
demand is so urgent, that cattle-killing has become a trade in order to meet it.
|| In 1832 I furnished to Government a statement of the amount of this commerce,
as conducted through Nepal proper, the exports and imports then reached thirty lakhs,
and this under circumstances as little encouraging to commercial enterprise as can well
be imagined, for monopolies were the order of the day, and those, in power were often
the holders of such monopolies, as I believe is still the case in Nepal and also in Cashmere.
In the paper adverted to, I also pointed out, by comparative statements, how
successfully Britain could compete with Russia in regard to this commerce.
J We are, it should- never be forgotten, 'ra/ri nantes in gurgite vasto,' occupying a
position quite analogous to that of the Romans, when one of their ablest statesmen
exclaimed 'quantum nobis periculum si servinostri numeraire nos eepiscent.' We cannot,
for financial reasons of an enduring kind, create an adequate guard against the perils
of such a position, nor materially alter it for the better quoad physical security, save by
having such a body of our countrymen as above contemplated within call.
To ward off Russian power and influence, we are just now entering on a war (in Persia^
as immediately and immensely costly, as full of perplexities and difficulties even in any
of its better issues. Were one-tenth, nay, one-fiftieth, of the money which that war,
if it last, will cost, bestowed on the encouragement of European settlements in the
Himalaya, we might thus provide a far more durable, safe and cheap barrier against
Russian aggression, and should soon reduce her land-borne commerce with Eastern Asia
to nil. (a.d. 1856.)
7. ON THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
[The following papers, which are of special interest just now, were addressed
to the Political Secretary at Calcutta in 1831, and were published in a volume
of " Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal, No. XXVII," in
1857. —Ed.]
No. I. — A precise practical account of the commercial route to Kathmandii,
and thence to the marts on the Bhote or Tibetan frontier, with the manner and
expense of conveying goods, the amount and nature of the duties levied thereon
by the Nepal Government, and the places where they are levied.
No. II. — Lists of imports and exports, with remarks.
It is scarcely necessary for me to remark, that a connexion with this country
was originally sought by us purely for commercial purposes, which purposes the
government, up to the beginning of this centurj7, directly and strenuously exerted
itself, by arms and by diplomacy, to promote. Now, though I would by no means
advise a recurrence to that mode of fostering the commerce in question, but, on the
contrary, entirely adhere to the opinions expressed by me in my public despatch
of the 8th of March, 1830, yet I think it is possible we may fall into the opposite
error of entire forgetfulness and neglect of the matter. I conceive, therefore, that
a few remarks tending to reveal the actual and possible extent and value of the trade
in question will, at the present moment, be well timed |and useful, in which hope
I shall now proceed to make some such remarks, and to point out, in the course of
them, the specific object for which each of the two accompanying documents
was framed. Why that great commerce, which naturally ought to, and formerly
did,* subsist between the vast Ois- and Trans-Himalayan regions, should seek the
channel of Nepal rather than that of Bhutan on the one hand, or of Kumaon
on the other, I have already explained at large, in my despatch above alluded to,
and to which I beg to refer you, should the subject seem worthy of any present
consultation or consideration. But I shall probably be met at the threshold of the
discussion with the reasonable questions — what has been the effect of sixteen years'
* I recommend a reference to the old records (inaccessible to me) of the commercial
Residency of Fatna and of its out-post Bettia. In 1842, an official reference was made
to me, too immediately before my departure from Nepal to be answered, the object of
which was to ascertain whp the imports from Tibet through Nepal, and particularly
that of gold, had fallen off so much
92 THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
peace and alliance with Nepal ? — what is now the positive amount of this commerce ?
— what its extent as compared with any like preceding period. If the mustard-seed
be indeed, to attain its promised dimensions, there ought to be now some distinct
symptoms of its great power of increase.
To meet in some sort, and prospectively, these reasonble enquiries, I have drawn
up the paper No. II. I have myself searched in vain tnrough my record for any —
the vaguest — data, by which I might judge of the amount of this commerce at the
times of Kirkpatrick'sJ and Knox's missions to Kathmandu, or, at the period of Mr.
Gardner's arrival here (1816), and the vexation I have experienced at finding none
sucb, has led me thus to place on record the best attainable data for the present
time. Fifteen years hence these data will furnish a scale of comparison by which
to measure the justness of the views now entertained respecting the power of increase
inherent in the trade of Nepal. It will readily be anticipated this government
neither makes nor keeps any express record of the annual amount of exports and
imports, and that it is no easy thing for one in my situation to get possession of the
indirect, yet facile, measure of this amount furnished by the sum-total of the duties
annually realized upon it. So far as attainable, I have used this measure. I have
also, sought and obtained other measures. I have secretly and carefully applied to
some of the oldest and most respectable merchants of Kathmandu, and the other
chief towns of the Valley, for conjectural estimates of the total annual amount
of imports and exports, and of the number and capital of the chief commercial
firms of the Valley. These estimates are given in Number II. In the
absence of statistical documents, these are the only accessible data, and when it is
considered that I have been many years at this place, it may reasonably be pre-
sumed, that I have the means of so applying to the merchants in question as to
procure from them sincere statements to the best of their knowledge.
It appears then that at this present time there are, in the great towns of the
Valley of Nepal, fifty-two native and thirty-four Indian merchants engaged in
foreign commerce, both with the South and the North, and that the trading capital
of the former is considered to be not less than 50,18,000, nor that of the latter
less than 23,05,000.* A third of such of these merchants as are natives of the plains
have come up subsequently to the establishment of the Residency in 1816, since
which period, as is thought by the oldest merchants of Kathmandu, the trade
has been tripled.
Turning again to No. II., Part I., we have, for the annual prime cost value of
the imports in Sicca rupees 16,11,000, and Part II. of No. II. affords, for the annual
value, at Kathmandu, of the exports, 12,77,800 of Nepalese rupees, equivalent to
Kuldars 10,64,833-5-4, thus making the total of imports and exports 26,75,833-5-4
of Kuldar rupees. But, from particular circumstances, the imports of 1830-31 were
above what can be considered an average specimen, and should be reduced by one
{1792 and 1801, respectively.
* Before I left Nepal, I had some reason to suppose these estimates to be too high by
a third.
THE COMMERCE OP NEPAL. 93
lakh, in the articles of precious stones, English fowling pieces, horses, velvets,
and kirukkabs, owing to the extraordinary purchases of the Durbar in that year.
After this deduction, there will remain a total of annual imports and exports, ac-
cording to the lists of No. II., of something short of twenty-six lakhs, which sum
agrees sufficiently well with the twenty-five lakhs yielded by the subsequent calcu-
lation upon the amounts of duties and of exemptions from duty. I am aware that,
after the deduction from the imports adverted to, there will still remain an excess
of imports over exports, amounting to four and a half lakhs of rupees,! which
may seem to want explanation, if considered as a permanent relation. But I
think it will be felt, on reflection, that to attempt to reduce these estimates to
rigorous precision, or to raise on them a nice speculation would be to forget that
they are necessarily mere approximations. In other respects, I hope and believe
both parts of No. II. likely to be very useful ; but in regard to the precise accuracy
of its sum-totals of annual transactions, I have no wish to deceive myself or others.
In respect to the annual amount of duties realized by this government upon this
trade, I cannot ascertain it upon the northern branch of the trade, but upon the
southern branch, or imports and exports from and to India, (which is farmed
and more easily discoverable,) it reached last year (1830) the sum of one lakh and
sixty-thousand three hundred and sixty-four Nepalese rupees. Now, if we take
(as there are good grounds for doing) the duty, upon an average, of 6 per cent, ad
valorem, the above amount of duty will give a total annual value of imports and
exports, with the plains of India alone, of 26,72,733^ Nepalese Paisa rupees, equi-
valent to Siceas 17,81,821-10-8. But to this sum must be added the whole amount
of imports and exports passing duty free, and which cannot be rated at less than
seven lakhs of Kuldars per annum. There are exemptions, from principle, of a
general nature, such as those affecting the export of gold, pice, and Nepalese rupees ;
and which articles alone amounted for 1830-31, to fully five lakhs of Siceas, as per
list of Part II. No. II. There are also exemptions from favoritism, which, by the
usage of the Nepal government, are largely extended to its more respectable
functionaries, civil and military — all of whom, if they have a penny to turn,
or expense to meet abroad, at once dabble in trade, and procure for themselves
freedom of export and import for the nonce. The goods so exported and imported
must be rated at a lakh per annum, nor can the Durbar's own purchases or imports
be set down at less. We must add, therefore, seven lakhs of exempted goods to the
nearly eighteen lakhs pointed out by the duties, and we shall have, in this way,
little short of twenty-five lakhs of Kuldars for the total amount value of the exports
and imports, to and from the plains, as indicated by the amount of duties and of
exemptions. Such, according to data,of some worth at least, is the present extent
t The deficiency of exports is made up, and more by the agricultural produce of the
lowlands, especially grain, six lakhs of which are annually sent to Patna, etc., where
it is paid for in money wholly. The means of export afforded to Nepal by her Tarai
agriculture escaped me in drawing up the tables of commerce. — B.H.H., 1834.
The total of exports and imports must, therefore, be set down at upwards of thirty
lakhs.— B.H.H., 1857.
MM
94 THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
of the trade of Nepal. If we would reasonably conjecture to what a height that
trade might easily grow, we may do so by turning to the statistical documents
touching the amount and nature of the Russian commerce with China via Kiachta ;
and then, comparing the facilities and difficulties of such a commerce with those
which present themselves to a commerce with the same country via Kathmandii and
Lhasa. From St. Petersburg to Peking, by any feasible commercial route, cannot be
less than 5,500 miles;* and though there is water carriage for a great part of the
way, yet such is the savage sterility of the country, and such the rigor of the climate,
that the water passage takes three years, and the land route one entire year, to
accomplish it. The Russian government levies high duties on this trade, not less
than 20 to 25 per cent., save on Russian products, which are scant, compared with
the foreign. There are some monopolies, and many prohibitions, especially those
mischievous ones affecting the export of either coin or precious metals.
I have mentioned the interval separating St. Petersburg and Peking. It is further
necessary to advert to the yet more distant seats, both of production and of consump-
tion, in reference to the more valuable articles constituting the Russian trade.
The Russians export to China peltry, woollen and cotton cloths, glass-ware, hard-
ware, hides, and prepared leather. Of these, not more than half of the first is
produced in Siberia, the other half is obtained from North America, either vid
England, or by way of Kamtschatka and the Aleutian Isles. Of the cotton and
woollen cloths, the coarse only are Russian made, the fine come chiefly from England ;
and the like is true of the glass-ware and hard-ware. The hides are, mainly, of
home production. Russia imports from China musk, borax, rhubarb, tea, raw and
wrought silk, ditto ditto cotton, porcelain, japan ware, water colours, etc. But the
best musk, borax, and rhubarb by far are those of Tibet, and especially of Sifan, the
north-eastern province of Tibet ; and no tea is better or more abundant than that
of Szchuen, which province is only eighty-seven days' journey from Kathmandii ;
whilst, of course, the musk, borax and rhubarb regions (as above indicated) are yet
nearer to us, yet more inaccessible to the Russians, than Szchuen.
What more I have to say on these products will fall more naturally under my
remarks on the line of communication with these countries through Nepal ; and to
that topic I now address myself. From Calcutta to Peking is 2,880 miles. Of
this, the interval between Calcutta and Kathmandii fills 540 miles, two-thirds of
the way being navigable commodiously by means of the Ganges and Gandak.
The mountains of Nepal and of Tibet are steep and high ; but they are, excepting
the glaciers of the Himalaya, throughout chequered with cultivation and popula-
tion, as well as possessed of a temperate climate. It is only necessary to observe
the due season for passing the Himalaya, and there is no physical obstacle to
apprehend ; so that the journey from Kathmandii to Peking may be surely accom-
plished in five months, allowing for fifteen days of halts. But wherefore speak of
Peking ? At the eighty-seventh stage only, from Kathmandii, the merchant enters
* Mr. Brun gives 4,196 miles for what I take to be the direct, or nearly direct, way.
Coxe. in one place, gives 5,363, in another place 4,701 miles. Bell's Itinerary yields 6,342.
These are obviously the distances by various routes, or, by a more or less straight course,
1 take nearly the mean of them.
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL. 95
that rich and actively commercial province of China Proper, called Szchuen,*
whence by means of the Yang-tsz-kiang, and of the Hwangho, he may transport his
wares, as readily as cheaply, throughout the whole central and northern parts of
China, if he can be supposed to have any adequate motive for going beyond the
capital of Szchuen, where he may sell his European and Indian products, and
purchase tea or silk or other products of China. The mountains of Sifan and of
Tibet, which yield the finest borax, musk and rhubarb in the world, lie in his way
both to and fro ; and, in a word, without deviating from his immediate course,
or proceeding above ninety days' journey from Kathmandu, he may procure where
they grow, or are wrought, all those valuable articles of commerce which Russia
must seek indirectly and at a much greater cost. But England and China, and
not Calcutta and China, it may be argued, must be the sites of the production and
consumption of the truly valuable articles of this commerce, of which the Nepalese
and Indians would have little more than the carrying trade ; and England is afar
ofl ! It is so, indeed ; but, with reference to the cheapness and facility of ship
freight, of how little importance to commerce is the distance of England from Cal-
cutta— not to mention that, as I have oberved in reference to the Russian com-
merce, we must not suppose the Russian has no further to seek than St. Petersburg,
but remember that England and Canada supply him with half he needs. From
Canada Russia seeks through England our peltry, to convey it to the Chinese across
the endless savage wastes of Siberia. What should hinder our Indian subjects and
the Nepalese from procuring these same furs at Calcutta and conveying them through
Nepal and Tibet to these same Chinese. At less than ninety stages from
Kathmandu, they would arrive at the banks of the Hwangho in Sifan, or those of
the Yang-tsz-kiang in Szchuen j and then the merchants might be said to
have reached their goal. What, again, should hinder the same merchants from
under-selling the Russian, in the articles of English woollens, hard-ware and
glass-ware, by conveying them to Sztchuen from Calcutta, by the same route ?
Nothing, it may safely be said, but want of sufficient information upon the
general course and prospect of commerce throughout the world ; and that
information we might easily communicate the practical substance of to them*
There are no political bars or hindrances to be removed for the Nepalese have
used the Chinese commerce via Tibet for ages, and our Indian subjects might
deal in concert with Nepalese by joint firms at Kathmandu. Nay, by the
same means, or now, or shortly, Europeans might essay this line of com-
mercial adventure. But of them it is not my present purpose to speakf. Let
* The route from Lhasa to the central and western provinces of China is far more
easy than that from Lhasa to Pekin.
+ Lord Elgin is now proceeding to China, in order to determine the footing upon
which the civilized world, and especially England, shall hereafter have commer-
cial intercourse with the Celestial Empire.
It may be worth while to remind His Excellency of the vast extent of
conterminous frontier and trading necessity in this quarter, between Gilgit and
Brahmakund. We might stipulate for a Commercial Agent or Consul to be
located at Lhasa, or for a trading frontier post, like Kiachta ; and, at all events, it
would add to the weight and prestige of our Ambassador, to show himself familiar
$6 THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
the native merchants of Calcutta and of Nepal, separately or in concert, take up
this commerce, and whilst we, though not the immediate movers, shall yet reap
the great advantage of it, as consisting in an exchange of European articles
for others chiefly wanted in Europe, we shall have a better chance of its
growing to a vigorous maturity than if Europeans were to conduct it through
its infancy. I have only further to add, in the way of continued contrast
between the Russian commerce and that here sketched, that whilst the former
is loaded with duties to the extent of 25 per cent., the latter would, in Nepal,
be subject only to 8 per cent.* duty; in Tibet, to no duty at all; and in our
provinces only, I fancy, to a very moderate one, which might perhaps be advan-
tageously abolished. Having thus, in the best manner I was able, without
numerous books to refer to, none of which are to be had here, given a rapid
view of the grounds upon which I conceive a very flourishing commerce might
be driven in European and Indian articles, between the great Cis- and
Trans-Himalayan plains, by means (at least in tha first instance) of our Indian
subjects and those of Nepal, I need only add, that the document No. I. is de-
signed to arouse and direct the attention of the native merchants of Calcutta ; that
I have given it a popular form with an eye to its publication for general informa-
tion in the Gleanings in Science ; that No. 2. might be similarly published with
advantage, and lastly, that nothing further is necessary, in order to give
thi3 publication all the effect which could be wished, than simply to enjoin the
Editor of that work to refer any native making enquiries on the subject to the
Resident at Kathmandu, who, without openly aiding or interfering, might smooth
the merchant's- way to Kathmandn, and assist him with counsel and information.
To prove that I have laid no undue stress on this matter, I only desire that a
reference be had to the circumstances and extent of the Russian commerce at
Kiachta, as lately (i.e., in 1829) laid before Parliament ; and even if this parallel
between the two trades be objected to in its present extent, (and I have run it
the whole length of China on one side, partly from a persuasion of the soundness
of the notion, partly to provoke enquiry,) let us limit our own views to Tibet
and maintain the parallel so modified. It may instruct, as well as stimulate us.
Tibet, in the large sense, is an immense country, tolerably well peopled, possessed
of a temperate climate, rich in natural productions, and inhabited by no rude
uomades, but by a settled, peaceful, lettered, and commercially disposed race, to
whom our broad cloths are the one thing needful ; since, whilst all ranks and ages,
and both sexes, wear woollen cloths, the native manufactures are most wretched,
and China has none of a superior sort and moderate price wherewith to supply
with his whole case, or with the landward, as well as the sea-board relations of
Britainand China. — Note of 1857.
* That is, the 6 per cent, before spoken of and 2 per cent, more levied between Kath-
mandu and the Bhote Frontier ; but the latter duty can hardly be rated so high ; at all
events, 8 percent, will amply cover all Custom House charges within the Nepalese do-
minions. In our territories, the duties appear to reach 7 per cent. See general re-
marks to Part 1.
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL. 97
the Tibetans. With her musk, her rhubarb, her borax, her splendid wools, her
mineral and animal wealth, her universal need of good woollens, and her incapacity
to provide herself, or to obtain supplies from any of her neighours, Tibet may well
be believed capable of maintaining a large and valuable exchange of commodities
with Great Britain, through the medium of our Indian subjects and the people of
Nepal, to which latter the aditus, closed to all others by China, is freely open
Nor is it now needful to use another argument, in proof of the extension of which
this commerce is capable, than simply to point to the recorded extent of the existing
Russian commerce with China across Siberia.
P.S., 1857. — A costly road has been constructed recently over the Western Him-
alaya 5 but, adverting to proximity and accessibility to the various centres of sup-
ply and demand, I apprehend that a brisk trade between the Cis- and Trans-Hi-
malayan countries would inevitably seek the route of the central or eastern part
of the chain. To Delhi, Benares, Patna, Dacca and Calcutta, on the one hand,to all
the rich and populous parts of Tibet, extending from Digarchee to Sifan, on the
o ther hand, either of the latter routes is far nearer and much more accessible.
By the unanimous testimony of all natives and of written native authorities West-
ern Tibet is very much the poorest, most rugged, and least populous part of that
country. Utsang, Kham, Sifan, and the proximate parts of China furnish* all the
materials, save shawl-wool, for a trade with us, as well as all the effective demand
for our commodities. All this points to Kathmandu Darjeeling or Takyeul (above
Gowhatti in Asam) as the most expedient line of transit of the Himalaya. J
I.
THE TEADE OF NEPAL.
When we consider how much intelligent activity the native inhabitants of
Calcutta have, of late years, been manifesting, we cannot help wondering that none
of the mercantile class among them should have yet turned their attention to the
commerce of Nepal. Do they not know that the Newars, or aborigines of the great
Valley of Nepal, have, from the earliest times, maintained an extensive commercial
intercourse between the plains of India on the one hand and those of Tibet on the
By the terms of the Treaty of 1792, the duties leviable on both sides are limited to 24
per cent, ad valorem of the invoice. The actual charges to which the trader is put
far exceed the customs duties eo nomine, since tolls are levied by every Jageerdar on the
transit of goods through the lowlands.
* See Cooper, Bengal As. Soc. Journal for May 1869.
t Since this was written the successful growth and manufacture of tea in the British
Himalaya are accomplished facts adding greatly to the means of establishing without
doubt or difficulty a flourishing commerce with Tibet and the countries immediately north
and east of it. In Kumaon, Sikim, Asam, are found great and thriving tea growing
establishments. Nothing is more craved for or less procureable, in Tibet and up to the
Russian frontier, than good tea ; and if we cannot open up the Takyeul route from Asam
we can and have^hat through Sikim b}r the Chola pass. The recent treaty has given us
a right of way and of road construction, and this pass is not liable to be closed by the
snow nor is the access to Sikim from the south rendered dangerous by malaria. The
southern half of Sikim is our own : the northern half belongs to our dependant ally to
whom we restored it in 1816, and for whom we have preserved it ever since, from the
grasp of Nepal.
MMl
98 THE COMMERCE OP NEPAL.
other; that Nepal is now subject to a wise and orderly Native Government; that
owing to the firm peace and alliance between that Government and the Honorable
Company's, the Indian merchant has full and free access to Nepal ; that the
confidence inspired by the high character of the native administration, and by the
presence of a British Resident at the Court, has led the native merchants'of Benares
to establish several flourishing kothees at Kathmindu, that the Cashmerians
of Patna have had kothees there for ages past ; that so entirely is the mind of
the inhabitants of our territories now disabused of the old idle dread of a journey
to Nepal, that lakhs of the natives of Oude, Behar, and North East Bengal, of
all ranks and conditions, annually resort to Kathmandu, to keep the great vernal
festival at Pasupati Kshetra. Are the shrewd native merchants of Calcutta
incapable of imitating the example of their brethren of Benares, who have now
no less than ten kothees at Kathmandu ; and will it not shame them to hear, that
whilst not one of them has essayed a visit to Kathmandu, to make enquiry and
observation on the spot, very many Nepalese have found their way to Calcutta,
and realized, on their return, cent, per cent, on their speculations in European
articles ? The native merchants of Calcutta have, whilst there, a hard struggle to
maintain with their European rivals in trade, but at Kathmandu, they would have
no such formidable rivalry to contend with, because Europeans not attached to the
Residency, have no access to the country and without such access, they probably
could not, and certainly have not, attempted to conduct any branch of the trade
in question. But every native of the plains of India is free to enter Nepal at his
pleasure, nor would he find any difficulty in procuring from the Government of the
country permission to sojourn by himself or his agent at Kathmandu, for purposes
of trade. With a view to arouse, as well as to direct, the attention of our native
brethren of the City of Palaces, in regard to the trade of Nepal, we subjoin some
of the principle details respecting the route, the manner and the cost of carriage^ and
the nature and amount of the duties levied by the Nepal Government. It cannot
be necessary to dwell upon that portion of the way which lies within the heart
of our own provinces — suffice it to say that, by the Ganges and Gandak, there is
commodious water carriage at all seasons, from Calcutta to Govindguuge or Kesriah,
situated on the Gandak river, in the Zillah of Sarun, and no great way from the
boundary of the Nepalese territories. Kesriah or Govindgunge, then, must be
the merchant's place of debarkation for himself and his goods, and there he must
provide himself with bullocks for the conveyance of his wares, as far as the base of
the greater mountains of Nepal, where again, he will have to send back the
bullocks and hire men to complete the transfer of his merchandise to Kathmandu;
and here we may notice a precaution of some importance, which is, that the
merchant's wares should be made up at Calcutta into secure packages adapted for
carriage on a man's back of the full weight of two Calcutta bazar mauuds each;
because, if the wares be so made up, a single mountaineer will carry that sur-
prising weight over the huge mountains of Ne"pal, whereas two men not being able
to unite their strength with effect in the conveyance of goods, packages heavier
than two maunds are, of necessity, taken to pieces on the road at great hazard and
THE COMMERCE OP NEPAL. 99
inconvenience, or the merchant must submit to have very light weights carried for
him, in consideration of his awkwardness or inexperience in regard to the mode
of adjusting loads. Besides the system of duties proceeds in some sort upon a
presumption of such loads as those prescribed ; and lastly, two such loads form
exactly a bullock freight; and upon bullocks it is necessary, or at least highly expe-
dient to convey wares from Kesriah to the. foot of the mountains. Let every
merchant, therefore, make np his goods into parcels of two full bazar maundseach,
and let him have with him apparatus for fixing two of such parcels across a bul-
lock's saddle. He will thus save much money and trouble. Kesriah and Govin-
dgunge are both flourishing villages at which plenty of good bullocks can be had
by the merchant, for the carriage of his wares, as well as a good tattoo for his own
riding to the foot of the hills, whence he himself must either walk, or provide
himself (as he easily can at Hitounda) with a dooly, for the journey through the
mountains to Kathmandu, the hire of a bullock from Kesriah to Hitounda; at tbe
foot of the mountains, is three Sicca rupees : besides which sum, there is an ex-
pense of six annas per bullock to tokdars or watch-men on this route, viz., two an
nas at Moorliah, two at Bichiako, and two at Hitounda. The total expenses, there-
fore per bullock, from Kesriah to Hitounda, are Sicca rupees 3-6-0. The load of
each bullock is four pukka maunds. The stages are nine, as follows : — Kesriah to
Bhopatpoor, 5 cos ; to Lohia, 7 cos ; to Segoulee, 5 cos; to Amodahi, 5 cos; to
Pursoni,6 cos; to Bisouliah or Simrabasa, 4 cos; to Bichiako, 5 cos; to Chooriah
Ghauti, 3 cos ; and to Hitounda, 4 cos ; being 44 cos in all. Hitounda, as already
frequently observed, is at the foot of the great mountains, which, for want of
roads, no beast of burden can traverse laden. Men, therefore, are employed, but
so athletic and careful and trustworthy are the hill porters, that this sort of
carriage is far less expensive or inconvenient than might be imagined. The precau-
tions in respect to packages before prescribed having been attended to by the trader
he will find the four maunds of goods, which constituted the one bullock's load as
far as Hitounda readily taken up by two hill-porters, who will convey them
most carefully in six days to Kathmandii. It is an established rule, that four
maunds, properly packed, make two bakkoos, or men's loads, which are conveyed
to Kathmandu at the fixed rate of two rupees of the country per bakkoo or load.
The stages and distances are as follows : — Hitounda to Bhainsa Dobkang, 3| cos;
to Bhimphedy, 4 cos ; to Tambakhani, 3 cos ; to Chitlong, 3 cos ; to Thankot, 3
cos; to Kathmandii, 3 cos— Total, 19^ cos. At Hitouada, there is a Custom
House Chokey, where packages are counted merely, not opened, nor is any duty
levied there. At Chisapani Fort, which is half way between Bhimphedy and
Tambakhani, is another Custom Chokey, and there the merchandise is weighed,
and a Government duty is levied of one anna per dharni of three seers, being two
Paisa rupees per bakkoo : also, a Zemindary duty at Chitlong of two annas per
bakkoo or load of 32 dharni, in other words of 96 ordinary seers. At Thankot, the
last stao-e but one, a further Zemindary duty is levied of four annas per bakkoo.
IOO THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
SUMMARY RECAPITULATION OF THE EXPENSES FOR CARRIAGE AND DUTY
BETWEEN HITOUNDA AND KATHMANDU.
Nepalesc Rs. Siccus.
Hire of Porters 400 3 4 0£
Duties Paisa rupees 4120 3 12 8 30 9|
Per bullock load . . 7 12 8 6 4 9!
To which, if we add the 3-6-0 Sicca for bullock hire and watch-men, between
Kesriah and Hitounda, we shall have a total of Sicca rupees 9-10-9f for the
expense, for duty and carriage, of conveying four pukka bazar maunds and upwards,
(64 dharni or 192 ordinary seers exactly,) from the Ghaut of the Gandak to Ka-
thmandu, where finally the goods are subject to an ad valorem duty of rupees 8-8-0
of the 'country or 2-13-6 Sicca, and where the merchant may get cent, per cent,
upon Calcutta prices for his European articles, if they have been well selected.
The duties upon imports from the plains, leviable at Kathmandu, are farmed by
the Government, instead of being collected directly. The farm is called Bhansar
— the farmer, Bhansari. On the arrival of a merchant with goods from the plains,
the Bhansari, or his deputy, waits upon the merchant and seals up his bales, if
it be not convenient to him to have them at once examined. When the bales are
opened and the goods inspected, an ad valorem duty (for the most part) of 2>\ per
cent, is levied on them by the Bhansari, thus : —
NepaZese Rs. Siccas.
For Kinara or Kinara, per cent. 2 0 0 1 10 o
For Nirikhi, per cent. . . ..180 1 36
3 8 0 2 13 6
The value of the goods, upon which depends the amount of duty, is settled by
inspection of the merchant's invoice and by appraisement of a regular officer,
thence called the Nirikhnian. If th merchant continue to dispute the apprais-
er's valuation, and the consequent amount, of duty, and will not listen to reason,
it is usual for the Government, in the last resort, to require the merchant to dispose
of his wares to it at his own alleged valuation. Let no one therefore think to a-
bate the duty by under-valuing his goods, for if he do, he may find himself taken
at his word, when he least expected it. For the rest, if he be fair and reasonable
and exhibit his invoice, he has nothing to fear from the Bhansari, who is not a
man of eminent place or power, and if he were, would not be suffered, under the
present able administration, to oppress the merchant. In respect to the duties
levied on the way up, (at Chisapani and Thankot,) as already explained, they
are called Sayer and Bakwaoon. If the merchant please, he may avoid paying them
on the road, and settle for them at Kathmandu, in which case the Collector of
Chisapani takes a memorandum of the weight of the goods and forwards it to
THE COMMERCE OP NEPAL. 10 1
the Bhansari and to the Government Collector at Kathmandu, giving the mer-
chant, at the same time, a note of hand to pass him on.
We have stated that the duty on Imports from the plains is, in general, an ad
valorem one of 3-8-0 of the country currency ; but as, there is a different rate in
respect to some of the articles, and, as the enumeration of the chief Imports will
serve as a sort of guide to the Calcutta trader, who may be disposed to adventure
a speculation to Kathmandu. we shall give a list of these Imports with the duty
assigned to each.
Duty in
Nepal Rupees & Sicca*
European broad cloths and other woollens of all sorts per cent. 3 8 0 2 13 6
European chintzes and other cotton of all sorts . . „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
European silks of all sorts „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
European linens of all sorts „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Amritsur and Cashmere shawls, good „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Dacca muslins and Jamdanees, sahans, &c „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Malda and Bhaugulpoor silk and mixed silk and
cotton stuffs „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Benares kimkhabs, toftas, mushroos. shamlas, do-
pattahs, &c „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Mirzapoor and Calpee kharwas and garhas . . „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Mowsahans,andarsahs,&c. „ , „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Behar, pagrees,kha8as,&c „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Bareilly, Lucknow and Tanha chintzes . . . . „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Enropean cutlery, as knives, scissors, &c. „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
European glass-ware chandeliers, wall-shades, &c. . . ,, 3 8 0 2 13 6
European mirrors, window glass, &c „ 3 8 0 2 13 6
Indian karanas, or groceries, drugs, dyes, and spicery
of all sorts „ 5 0 0 4 10
Peltry of Europe and India, as Dacca, other skins,
goat ditto, &c „ 5 0 0 4 10
Quicksilver, vermilion, red and white lead, brim-
stone, jasta, ranga, camphor ,, 500410
Indigo pays in kind „ 10 0 0 8 2 0
Precious stones, as diamond emerald, pearl, coral „ 18 0 13 6
Indian laces, as Kalabuttu, Gotah, &c „ 5 0 0 4 10
Whoever has sold his wares at Kathmandu will next look to purchasing a
"Return Cargo" with the proceeds of such sale. We therefore now proceed to
notice the manner and amount of the Export duties levied by the Ne"pal Government
upon goods exported to the plains. There is no difference between goods the produce
of N6pal and such as are the produce of Bhote (Tibet) or China, all paying on
exportation to India at the same rate.
The Exports, like the Imports, are farmed, and it is therefore with the Bhansari
that the merchant will have again to treat with.
NN
102 THE COMMERCE OP NEPAL.
The Export duty is an ad valorem one, and amounts, for the most part, to 4-11-1
per cent., which is levied thus : —
Ostensibly.
Really.
As Bakkooana . .
..100
12 2
..140
14 0
2 0 0
2 4 3
4 4 0
4 11 1
These sums are Nepalese currency. Their equivalents in Sicca rupees are 3-7-3 and
3-13-9. There are no further duties levied on the road, and the merchant, upon
payment of the above ad valorem duty at Kathmandu, receives from the Bhansari a
pass, or Dhoka Nikasi, which will carry him, free beyond the limits of Nepal.
The merchant's goods, on his return, should be made up, as on his approach, into
bakkoos or men's loads of thirty-two dharnis of three seers per dharni, and he should
have bullocks waiting his arrival at Hitounda, by previous arrangement. The fol-
lowing is a list of some of the principal exports, with their respective duties : —
Duties in
Articles. Nepal Rupees & Siccas.
Chours per cent. 4 11 1 3 13 9
Tibetan, Himalayan and Chinese woollens, as
Maleeda, Toos, Namda, Chourpat, Kahry, Bhot etc „ 4 111 3 13 9
Chinese damasked and brocaded satins & silks ,, 4 11 1 3 13 9
Sohaga or borax ,, 4 11 1 3 13 9
Nepalese, Bhotea and Chinese drugs — rhubarb,
mihargiyah, zaharmohara, momira, jatamangsee,
hurtal, &c per cent. 4 11 1 3 13 9
Bhotea and Nepalese paper „ 4 11 1 3 13 9
Musk pods, per seer of 32 Sa. Wt 140 103
Gold Duty free.
Silver Prohibited.
Rupees of the plains Ditto.
Rupees of Nepal and copper pice of ditto Free-
Bhote poneys or tanghans, each 7 0 0 5 11 0
Hard-ware,as iron phowrahs &c per cent. 4 11 1 3 13 9
Though we would not advise the native merchant of Calcutta to meddle, in the
first instance, directly himself, with the trade of Bhote, whether in exports or
imports, yet as that coimtry causes the great demand for European woollens in
particular, and is, on many accounts, of more consideration in a commercial point
of view than Nepal, we shall give some details relative to the trade with it,
through Nepal, analogous to those we have already furnished respecting the trade
with Nepal itself.
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL. 103
The duties upon the Bhote trade are levied by government through its own
officers, not farmed, like the duties on the trade with the plains. Goods of the plains
(whether the produce of Europe or India,) exported through Nepal to Bhote, are
made up into packages or bakkoos, of sixteen dhdrnis, or forty-eight seers only,
owing to the extreme difficulties of the road, which will not permit a man to
cany more than that weight upon his back ; and there are no other means whatever
of conveyance, until the Himalaya has been passed. Upon these bakkoos or loads
the duty is levied, and amounls to Paisa rupees 1-0-1 per bakhoo, for all articles
alike. The duty is levied at the Taksar or Mint, and the collector is familiarly called
Taksari in consequence. The details of duty of the 1-0-1 are these : —
Taksar 0 6 0
Nikasi 0 10 0
Bahidar 0 0 1
Paisa Rupees 10 1 = Siccas 0 10 10
Upon payment of this sum to the Taksari, that officer furnishes the merchant
with a passport, which will pass his goods, free, to the frontier of Bhot or Tibet.
The chief exports to Bhote are : — European broad cloths (crimson, green, orange,
liver, and brown- coloured), cutlery, pearls, coral, diamonds, emeralds, indigo and
opium. Goods imported into Nepal from Bhote (no duty levied there) payto the
Taksar at Kathrnandu as follows : —
Musk pods, per seer (in kind) . . 1£ tolahs.
Gold, per tolah 1 anna.
Silver is all necessarily sold to the Taksar and is received at the Sicca weight,
paid for at the Nepalese or Mohari weight, difference three annas.
Articles. Duty.
Chours, white . . . . per dharni 4 annas.
Ditto, black . . . . . . „ 3 „
Chinese and Bhotea velvets, woollens, satins, silk thread,
and raw silk . . . . . . per cent. 4 rupees
Peltry of Mongolia and Bhote, samoor, kakoon, chuah-khal,
garbsooth, &c. . . . . . . „ 4 „
Borax . . . . . . . . „ 4 „
Chinese and Bhotea tea . . . . . . .. . . .. „ 4 „
Drugs • .. „ 4 „
From Kathmandii to Bhote frontier, or rather, to the frontier marts of Kooti and
of Keroong, there are two roads, one of which is called the Keroong and the other
the Kooti way, after the marts in question, which are respectable Botea towns.
The following are the stages and expenses : — Kathmandii to Kooti, eight
stages, sixteen dharnis, or forty-eight seers, a man's load. His hire, 2 rupees of
Nepal — or Siccas 1-10-0 for the trip.
The stages are Sankhoo, Z\ cos; to Sipa, 7 5 cos; to Choutra, 5 cos ; to Maggar-
104 THE COMMERCE OP NEPAL.
gaon or Dharapani, 3 or 4 cos ; to Listi, 5 cos ; to Khasa, 4 cos ; to Che-sang, 5 cos ;
to Kooti, 3| cos.
From K&thmandii to Keroong, the eight stages are : — To Jaiphal-kepowah, 4
cos j to Nayakot, 5 cos ; to Taptap, 4 cos ; to Prehoo, 4 cos ; to Dhom-chap, 5 coe ;
to Maidan Pootah, 3 cos ; to Risoo (frontier), 4 cos ; to Maima, 4 cos ; to Keroong, 4
cos.
The load is the same as on the Kooti road and the hire of the carrier the same.
The Himalaya once passed, you come to a tolerably plain country, along which
beasts of burden can travel laden. The usual carriage is on ponies and mules,
which carry two bakkoos of sixteen dhdrnis each, and can be hired for the trip,
from Lhasa to the Nepal frontier, for twenty rupees of Bhote currency. They per-
form the journey in about a month, allowing for three or four days' halts.
P-S. — The Nepalese dhdrni is equal to three seers. The Nepalese rupee is
worth thirteen annas. It is called, after an ancient dynasty, Mahendra Mally, or
shortly and commonly Mohari. It is almost a mere nominal coin, from its scarce-
ness, the common currency consisting of half rupees or Mdhars. The Bhote
rupee is called Kala Mohari. It ought to be equal to the Nepalese, but is ren-
dered five gundas less valuable by undue adulteration.
M
h I <b I
§'§■31
O Cj H ^
£ „, © a;
es !* & _ -
° ^^ s
g <D <CB
r^ += jf CD
<P 5 a
k S ci
§^ 2
o « u
■p — • £
® a °
i: § °
s P
as §
© rt 3
~^ -!= =e
■ji
CO
(A
CD
TO
-4
a 3 H
-£ u
SJ*
It
-a
ce <s
.a P-i
gj*
rrj rM vcj TO
d
•1H Ph
d
'd o
a--1 •
J?Vd
73 ^
3
o3
CD
to
CO
cri g
EC
to
a 8 p-3
2 £15
to ^_r
S
o
<L>
0
>
CD o
to oo d
cj ^
•n d
03 2
o «
p-
03
Eh
»-. ®,2 -2
OP "
jo »3
s
^
^n^'
o
5 ic d)
P CD Jh +?
H-2 §p§
^•8 ^
c .9
-
o « s
„a > o
be' to
d 3 <D
2^:3
-u cd jj
« a o
5 a-
3 ii
i* I
CD pd =*?
O O O
o
o o o o o
o © © © ©
©
3
•[■Btla^j
o o o
o
o o o o o
© © © © ©
O
o o o
o
o o o o o
© © © © o
o
©
IIB m paransuoo
"* CM 00
00
© O © CO o
© T* CM O <M
«o
»o
spooS jo ;imorav
CM i—i
OrtOJHTJI
CM -*
C5,
cm"
© o^ pacjjodsurj^
55 spooS jo ;un. iiuv
o ©
© © ff,
CM -tf O
© © © o © ©
O © © © m © ©
©^ o©^©^ g ©^ ©^
c>r o~»o©r o cm" co~
r-, (M CM £
B
hH
<1
.s
Ph
00
W
s
fe
Wh
%>
^
Ph
O
s
■a
*
w
fl
a
0
<1
ys
rt
%
H
■*o
-
§H
•saadnu
si'°0 tn Hjjodnri
jo ^nnouiu ^soo
aiuud pa^rai;sa
{—I (U
o §
^"5
©©© © ©©©©o
© © © o ©©©©©
© © © o ©^©^©^©^©^
oo x tjT id1 o"©*~>dxrT-T
^H CO CM CM CM
© © © ©
© © © ©
© © O ©
P< k r: s
CO CM ©
o oo »o »o
© CM © O i—l "*
o R J;
Ph
.i
— l
■ ."J^
oj
T3
—
*> fl
d
© 3
oS
> CO
g 5c2 >
Its ^ a
ci a ts -
O ej u fl
2 -, ^
*
•S ,3 r^ S
33 2^
a
a o
TO ^
o 'd
-^ ~ . „ -^ to •
■5 § g -o © s"^s
,o 2 2-3,3 >
■o fcCrC rC ^ ^5
03
O K ^ ^ R ^
NNl
cS d 43 ••-;
d
©
saailn^i 9S9jBd8^
ui 'tvJaN hi Pios
20,000
16,000
8,000
©
©
©
©~
i—i
© © © © ©
© © © © ©
© © ©•© ©_^
cTcTo'"©"c<r
©
o
©^
cm"
00
© © © ©
© © © ©
o^©,©, ©^
o
©
©
©
©
©
o"
©
CO"
"^ 03
CM -
-1-
o
^*|©
d a 3 o
2 o ^^
ho
a> o
£ a S
3 o
•S-p
a^
% s-S
.spr*/3 p ~
l. a o a> o
p- CD CO O
• P CD CD t>
^ CO ,Q .P
S'P goS-
co O >-P
CD r-t fO o
03 co e3 .8 ^T
^ft£ gfl
& &IP3
t? ~- rt-i *T5 _ ••I
^ 6d a ro
0> o
s^r p p
-r a
o og
TO O C3
o ^^
+» <D 'P
a <x>
P o
o ft
"aS 313
.£> CD -
Is
a T c3 <u ee
3 co fc .12 r< r=!
• i-H CO
*"P CD
P s
>JEh
o a
3
O H
CD
. CO +i
03 ®
S 5.8 £
S CD a£
£ ^i-P ce o
P
O.S
<cu <u
£ p
a °
ft a
i s^,
, co a
S3 SO
a f^—
6cH
^ a a
§ o
3 a 2 3 js
a a o -w ■— •
•ST-
o o
^ s
a te 3
*-< F> CD
S Org
CD +3
-2 8,
« 2'
.a ®
c [P
: P'P
-a P a,
is^a
,-; p p
<oT-a CD
!^ 3
cq
o o o
o o o
o o
o
o
o
o
o
•X^daji
o o o
o o o
o o
o
o
o
o
o
00 o O
oo o
>o o
o
o
o
o
»o
Iiu m paransuoo
(MOO
ONCO
cs o
>o
cs
cs
US
o
spooS jo ^unouiy
CO i—l CO
1— 1 1— 1
«o 00
l-H
5*
1— (
l-H
l-H
spooS jo ^nnouiy
o o o
o o o
c<^oo^
5l 5l
saadnjj 8S9|Bds^i
ni 'x^dg^i ni p[os
90i.id •yeqiA ^y I
o o o o o o
o o o o o o
o^o^o^ o >o o
^*V"Tof o*~i^Tcd"
CO 1—1 CO r— I I— I
o o
o o
o o
o~o~
O 00
o
o
cT
»o
o
5
o"
-M
o
o
o
O o o
o o o
O "OO
•saadn^i
b(-03 ui s^jodrai
jo ^nri"nre ^soo
am- . i Bullosa
5^3
o o o o o o
o o o o o o
o^o^o^ coo^o^
o o
o o
o o
o~o~
Q
o
o
o o o
o o o
o o o
So >o
o to o
V p £
CO lO O t* 00 »o
■»rj( o
(N Ol i
8o o
2 tco
a a a
03 O CD
CD
Ph
o r r
• ce g p-
>, a o
•oo^M
• • a
• ce
T3 O
u *
■ 03 Ji
• ^2
CD CD
CD CD
a c
03 a
i-rj T3
3 §
Q a
a e3
£-1
r-H CD
i§ :
J I a fl °
h, fl >-, ce _a
So?5 Jd +»
a ° jh jo >*3 o
aH03 u
03 a =* ^03 a
O -^S -a ^° O 03
S §OrH g^3
o3 9.
S3
a P co
4-, a « .
O ^<m ^
X
s^fl 03^
p a ro ft -~
SH2c*j'p
S a !>,a S
p o!P gJ
^ CO - ^
r r*>ft '
OuO
a . i
■ p s
03 co •— r
. a =3^
,rSo'a
• 5 "* .CD
• a^ s
o >. >-,
CO -P
^-p
=y o3
®"S
"p
" o
. I— I
• o
. OS
>,
•-a
--o"sa
CD CM
era a1
P 03
o 3 o
a a- cd
rr> CO CD
R H CJ
'■"S la .r-i
a -f-a-P
O C f-i -^
piq o3 o
^ « °
o Pi3 S
CD — b^-13
03 .g ^ 'P
c T3 -— i 'Te
a i— i
a
„ 60 as 43 P ■
«*H TO _, «t3
9 ^3.2 p
P +-' -P S
6£-2~ ffiE
0) 5 o3 o
§4-1.1
K* CD .i-j jp
job
+J +-> e3
S 3
«s.a s
■*>p
CD
•J
a-s^
T3 -t-
CD .ti
3 a3
rg CO
CD g ^
P 2.
oS
P
£h m
fl T! t>> I ^ 1 ' _5 CD
.^ £ oS £ J3 cd*-1 £
IS •« P-rt £s -5 *& <=*
ja co a<~ <£** a
P 03 > CD .£ oTiH
CD CD .•> . IS
a o f»-
H "-* CD _j
rP
P
CD ^
u 3 cj g cr^
P a- P, •" 2
p.2 d
2^
£.0
P O 3
p h1
t« c 2
haoijS
a rr +?
»3j
CD -^ fc P
55 b ^ cd
feH go J
o S ^
y g ■+-> P O CD o>
^ag^P^+^ocD
CD CD § M
1 £ 2
O P*cg
rO~ ^
CO rt
nS -3
« a
-- o
— a m
2*1,8 1
1 eg ^3 +j s-, CD
a a
cS 5
Sffl
3 ®.2
FnoV;
■ +a Pj oS e3 ^ C_) _>^'
_ p rj- ^ CO .1-1
™ -I CO
a
cS '
^a
D CD
+2 CD
JH-^^W
* o i» 2
•** P-l M
^i, yp CD
hi
os g a
>-> CD ^
CD CD r^
H CD
■« CD
O O
O O
0
OOO
OOO
O O
0
0
0
O O
O O
0
OOO
OOO
O O
0
0
0
O O
O O
■*
OOO
OOO
O O
>o
0
^
CD-*
»Q CO
(M
<M-tO
riCMH
"•* CM 00
O CM
C5 r-l
t^
00
CM
O O
0
0
O O
O «,
0
a -
O O
a
21 § .
•> «« 0
„ ^
»o
a
0 -
r^ iO
0
Tji 0 -
-*
0
fc
l—l
ft
[25
fe
0
O
O
O
0 0
OO
0
OOO
OOO
O O
0
0
8
0
O
O
O
0 0
O O
0
OOO
OOO
O O
0
0
0
O
(M
O
0 0
O O
-*
OOO
OOO
O O
0
0
-*
-^t
OI
CO
•<*
0 -*
CO 00
CM
0 ~* 0
-+ CM 00
O CM
CM
00
CM
!N
1—1
10
r— 1 CM 1— 1
■*rtH
C5 t— 1
s
O
O
O
0 0
0 0
O
OOO
OOO
O O
O
0
O
O
O
O
O Q
0 0
O
OOO
OOO
O O
8
0
O
0
O
O
O
O O
0 0
CN
OOO
OOO
O O
0
CM
<M
1— 1
t— 1
l>
CO CM
00 T*
00 <M IO
CM O 05
»o CO
CO
-*
t— 1
T— 1
c^
CM
-<*
Ph
cd ja
Ph
O
O oS
eS *>
*Ph "
pP
Ph+J *"
O
Ph
CD
Pi
03
CD
p. p-
Tj< CO
O O
O
0 ^
O O
•*
S rH
-<tfi »o
co
-.|<M
CM i—(
O O
1C
lO CM -*<
»C CM
t^
o
o o
o >o
- §^ gj
rP TO ^V
■ -o
CJ
C5 co
o
CD ^'3""
=2 a co SP 03
'S a T. 3 =0
^ ^ S S _j " o
0 a ° * a m P
CO ^^ CD §^^
"V h to
ji ? 3
CO -rH
"a 03 cS O —5
J CD ^P ves
^3
t» CO
^ -a o3 cs ^
P O o T3
~ TO
- O
M
«
K'i CO ^
.^ CD o3
10 g ^
ShO,.
^ O J CD CD
-P m °
a s -2 ^-p
o £ -a ^ p
--t r. « ci s:
,-c o o
c3 -S co
. ^ co
-a ^>
»C " rP
a a
oi +j
a ^£
. oTO
CD j^
' <S rP
cd r^
>5 i
^ cr CD __, -i
* -P « "M
I || ^ I a
.3 -cs 'a
O
* CM
p'o h^a s
l-l 60^ to j; £
a o -s ?h «<; no
« c3^ g-a"*
O o J , J et O
ti c v
> r£ O
P - ^
' h ►>«
Jat-®
lii - £^
^ O rt
» g«Q
O >-, to
r p*p a
.S a *
»*< = «
0 a
, oS
1 — 1 rJ~
"J
. a a
P5
C=2 «P5
St' J^
H C
— - 2 ^^
^ o — a^'o
aJ: -L^
- ,
to,=:
fl, CO
bo
ri a
2- °
"to -
a -r
J?Z2 "2 I 4) «
s ra ° a --a j
§ P g <* *^ >
a ^ -m ^ , ^a
Pj O
■5 £
CO i>
03 ^
r o3 sh ai '^
? "8 J2
aa
O
O
£
0)
-a
♦J
03
T3 t3
a
at
ort
^
w P.
o »a> ^3
^^
PhO .a
q_,+-> oi s
ar - a <b
"^ a -P" ^1
<*•' a* ,* -<->
•<-« rt j£j a,
as H— i -4-3 P
PO*
cS O
«-> bfi
a cs .
» ° ?
a o <u
8 ^S'g
Si P S£
to*S 'i i i
a ^ s ^s as
t, a _■ e8 m
■a a »S
3 ° J £ a
<b as ^ ^jg
3 £ «S K 5
a =8
a) -a
cS H h
±2 <J o°
-a <» p
°8 08 fl
H U) H
bi.~v
r-aaSo8+5£^r
-7i ••* 11 03 CO ~ CO
p*— PS
— O *2 f*
S o ►> °
Si:
oi FT a)
a g a
a m "-a
'j « i ce
-' ,a ;3 as
, 03 r-(
t, co rg a a ,
p oj a -1 o
Sd na »e8 . '
T* PL, 03 03
•" S ^ a. a
+a <H += +->
a ro
OS
o ,_,
03 ^j-
°£ 03
oS JA
CD -a
Sh
a ros
> O =H
CJ
a ts
O OS
8^
c
M
H 3
cS -
p
os
a
6 a
se3
CU a
a -> vcs
'bb a
o o o o o o
©
© ©
©©©©©©
©©©©©©©
©
o o o o o o
©
© ©
o © © © © o
©©©©©©©
©
•I«Ja>j
o^q, o^ o o^
©^
© ©
©.©.».q^©^o_cM
©^JO^tM ©^©^©^JO^
"^
\\v m pstunsuoo
-rjT o" T-f c^ -^T c©-
icT
cmC
©"i>Ti-r»o"^
-"tfV-T Jcfco'i-Ti-T
r-T
<M 0<Oh
co
00 CO
© i—i
CM JO
spooS jo ■jimouiv
i— i
O O O O
©
© ©
© © © ©
© © © ©
©
_ o „ o o o
©
© ©
m © © © „, ©
-, © .. © © ©
©
•nmm
©^
© ©
a °-'° <= a o
a ^ a .0.9.^
©
o% p9%sodsu-ei%
o r-H o cTcT cT
iq*
o"«o"
O >C N OH
O CO O "~C0 CM CM
spooS jo }uuorav'
^ ^ co oo cm
r— (
O i—l
^^ iz;
£; iz; M
o o o o o o
©
© ©
© © © o © o
©©©©©©©
©
Ul '[Bd9_\I UI pjos
o o © o o o
o
© ©
©©©©©©
©©©©©©©
o
©^©^©J©^©^
©
0~°~
O,©^©^© ©^CM^
©^©^CM ©^ ©_©_©_
©
CM © GO -<* CM
©~
to
aTcM*"
© O-f CM^G-f TjTr-T
© co i—i
1—1
■^Tjo" jo""©""^-^
CM ©
cm"
•ssadnjj
© o © o o o
©
© ©
© © © O © ©
©©©©©©©
©
o o © o © ©
o
© ©
o © © © o ©
©©©©©©©
©
s/oo nt sjjodmj
JO ^UtlOUTB ^soo
© ©^©^o^© ©^
cm" tjT C~f ©" (M~ co~
©^
©^©^©^©©J©
©"~©""r-r©"eo"
O^JO^l-H ©,© ©^©.
c?fcM" ©"co'i-Tof
©^
!-H"
auiud p3;i3au;s3
i—( CO -* CM i—l
CM
-^ CM
JO i-H
CM CM
13 S
o^
•SJ3
seer,
orge
,a
IB
fee ,a
*H OS
o -a!
a
"gj
Sh K ^ ^ « S
-P
£ £
u - _o
- fo^a g
jg
§HP. g
CO
Sghft
^a
OS ^
Ph
Ph g.
11 S a) .
03
<-< a
a ^
P-^ * ^ = S 8=
K
""h«
H«
- res » Kp5 rt
os ^h ra
a>
^ ?-.
CD © © © © ©
CM
!>. CM
i-1 © 00
rH © ^ ^ JO«
cS
n-, OJ
T-H CO i-H © CM i— 1
i— 1
O CT f^CM 03
Sa
o ^ ^"^ -
] — ] iH »
CD
.a >
"
*H|C»
03
oS
S - r co co r; •
O
o
■■* (M CM IC © rH
qo
CO i—l
CM i-H CM
^ © CM 00 © O 00
CO
%gi
CM T— 1 CM r— 1
i— I
JO i-H CO 00
a
^ a *->
^
»v «v
~ »* •*
O £ 8^ 8^ 8i ^
£
cS
l>i CD
"co g
2 ^
a os
a ts;
h • 03 2
« 03 ^^=
^ a a
§°HP 'S3
WOO r-tTJ ^^, l
T) O j U ?Lt2 P3
aa S ^ -r El
co a a co — —
aa 55 o o ^ o o
op S.S t is ^ 42
a •■* o o cu -ta .a.
6-2
ns as
a
a:
^i 03
03 dj
o o 03 .a th o "^ -i
^rt
a
03
+J
~
-.
c
a
t_
03
«Q
« 8
aaM
PhtH
P-. f-1
f ^^
n— '. 03 <T)
aa a
co £
as "a o
; fc S S
o as
1*3 frluoai
as >->^
° o a=i
a o S
CD <5
^s^
§ S o
S-3 p * - fl
03 •«
a 5
to
Q£
5 & > •
<r
Is
o> n3
- a s
^2
to. a
9
-f
.2 *
2 N5 05 t3
,qco
►^
a e
H Op
o H
.o o
a o 03 _
® .2 a =*-
o |;.S o -
^•s a ^
».« a*
•« a ^ o
o8 ^ 1 2
_. .*rH ^ j3 ^
bL^S -^ S
2 £
<2<H B O
^ 6*a
O -^ ^ 33
k! ffl B O
0D „ » 0> N B
^S'! ao'2
g c£3 .3 g "*^
*j <d a a q) w
+-> o "tJ '£ o ra
P f .r-o a a *■ *f
NflS S a a
P, Is * -S £ g "1 8
if §fc\3&££ .
•a Ptj S3 *-> .3 P <5 •£
r> s" ^ a> a o a
fcD . «•-" ;>-> op
a S «
| .5 Sb
E? «
^S.Sa'-es^jS'S
vpMeL o~3 p*§< a s
g 3 .2 3, &ts 55 | a
3- £
.a ct<e
yJ3 Ch
o3 O Ph+3
CZ5 Pi
r=* -~ ? £ a Ph1^ a
•5 H -o ^< i> H 55
^■3"S c?
Pi a a a
fl ^) __. f— P-i-u
n *s3 2 S *® a
*3 3 S 55 ^a
a !
o ■
a od"
03 g
3 a
o-a
o -*3
1 a
£ o3
° la
ooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooo
ioi^qiqsqvcDiq.o©,(»»o,(»q
o
o o o o
o
o o o o
o
»o o o o
,_|
O 00 O 00
co co c^
o o
o o
o o
Q S
o o
Oi-L
o o
o o
o o o o
o o c o
O X) CT «3
55 K
4. a "-i.
■I O C-l
55
55
55
ooooooooooooo
ooooooooooooo
o^o o^o O^O^O^O,^ O^O^OO^O^
c-f o" o^o" C<T i-T rjT x~ o" o" o~ of 00~
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
o;oo.^
ofG^f-^of
ooooooooooooo o oooo
ooooooooooooo o oooo
0©©»ojCMX) o^o qo^q^-to^ o o^o^o^o^
co~co~co~c<fr-r t^r-fof'c'rj'r-r^ «£Tci"o"^f
oooo
oooo
© O © <N
fl
(3
2
U
^_
a>
aj
Ph P-<
a -a
K
CO © © © 00 O) (Mi
H 00 00 © r-t CO
I © lO (M -^ t*<
r- 1 © to W
© CO
©
DQ
'a-rJ
55 S 43
§^=S£ E^a-S g^ 2
B r!«)
>h 03 *->
O 0) -
_2a3
|| &.S II 2"^^ ^-3.2
DQ
•S ^
H ®
03 „
3 a * 0)
a '-a «
(jOo<o
° p-a §
a co » 03
alSl
ti a i •*
B £ B be
a 3 O c
11* tit paumsuoo
•pooSjo^unoinv
g
oj os .^ £
.a &9 o *§
bD P" b»- — <» ®
® i 5 A
S^JS g. i
g 3 bo
oo 73 la a — ^
O rt oj o3 a S
<n -a
y « i»
~ > '—
g g OC flj r^ P
H3 ^ flj. P ^ rP H CJ
2J?^ T ci
!.* o
CSTJ t>
ffi U . — . / ! — i TO ! —
©~© ©~o c
o o o o o
oo
oo
O <M
oo"i-T
ooooooooo
ooooooooo
t>Tt>rr-riKrcQ~ccri-r or
OOOOOOOOOQ
oooooooooo
otT©~t>Ti-H ©~c<f icr^jTaf i-T
i— I CM i— I i— I
•9}oita !
0% pa^odstrej^
•poog ;o jnnoray
HI '[Bd8^ ui pj09
• •>Ud }Bi[av ^y .
o o o © o
© © © © ©
OO^OCT ©,
of of r-T i-T
©©©©©©©©©©o©©o
©©©©©©0©©©©©0©
©_-^©^©_©©^©_01© ©_©^0 00 ©
of <^<>f©~(?5vri>rrH^cr©5vco\-r cr
©©©©©©©©©©
©©©©o©oo©o
o oo oo" r-T r-T of *oT tjT oo' i-T
OJ <M i— I i— I
•ssadnu
t.'oo m s^joduii
jo ^unouiB ^soo
ewud pajBun^sa
v-o
■5*
P. Fh
o ©
o ©
40 ©
o©©©©©©©©©©©©©
©©©©©©©©o©©©oo
©^^©^©^ic^to^iq^© ©^oo^© iotjio
©"r-ri-rioTf-reo^of coi-rcf »o~
©©©©©©©©©©
Q©©©©©©©©©
©_©_©^oo »q_© «q© © *o
©~-^%dT io~co" of of tiT
t3 a T3
©
o
FH
03 Q3
'o *
HJ o3
maun
tolah
r mau
dholi
r 100
maun
p-
OJ <D
Ph P^
00
P-P-to P<to P-
K
£ £
w OS " o3 HH
iOr-^^Ht^00-^-^H©©lCCM©t^»O I— I
i— I <M I— I rH i-H I— I
•n
a
pi
S
~2 a
<D
t->
m oj
<D
P^ P-
Ph
hi«
«hf
>Cl-H©©»0^©©
<M I— 1 CO »0 r
00 03
cs eS
00 © CO © CO
fr
® .
o ■
Ph •
a •
OJ
a •
eS
• 03
►-s :
^
° ™
<D .
o •
® 2
Ph
oT-p
<» O
t3 a
03 -w
OJ 03
s =
^^H
-a ^
V- o
TO "-1
. 03
a o
m ^
a^
5 O
-^ ja
w
Q
-<o
a£
"Tl TO
&a
PQ o
OJ ^
a-Q
r-H O
-^
5 >h-h^ g o
OJ ,J3
^
X J
a 'S -S -S .-a
P"o3 cSTOOJ . g
O 'P ^ "
03 J2 °J • ■"> rt . 3 OJ TO
wg-3 is ss^a
oo ^r
a -s
o^3
S 03P3 "
c26^Po6^fii'
oS?;Ph-<
s S J fl -P
1 O S3 QC •->
a a
a> o
«J
d S 0) d
* J ~
09
.— s a
a, 3 -^.fi-g
9
si
—
O i—i
93 H^^
£ *
■-i ° ^ !S g CD 3
•■Sag E\u --C «
t> tog .a -3
-3 S <D >V
QOOOOOOOOOOO o
pooooooooooo O
N^O^O CD 0^0,0^00,0 t* IQ O
i-Tc^ToT *c~c<fr-ri-r co"
S3 3
a a .13 $
~.— ' Oj 3
I?
ago
■-» r* «»
o
o
o o o o
o o o o
OOOrfO
r-T <N~C<r
;^p-
ci
oc
Sooooooooooo o o
ooooooooooo o o
CN,-1<,0,0 CO 0,0,0,CC,0 ** lO o, c^
i-Tcf^f lQ0-Tr-4r- T CO~ i-T
o o o o
o o o o
OOO^O
r-T <>fo~
oooooooooooo
ooooooooooo«o
CO ff^O,CO CO *0,0 15 O «! w w
r-Tr-T cn~o'
o o o o
o o o o
10tj((MO
•73
. 3
cs 5
-s a
K
«tf
OMOON
O t- CO CM 00 01
TO
T3 >->
o ®
be,
o
w fe c -
c3 c9 33 -ta " * ^
. S.5£oSa^ " ^ e
-a's&sb^.si^ssa'Hi
a
£ -
h3 -S p.,
oL5 o -
pq
aT
c
0)
o
09
HO
3
-73
•a
s-
o
TJ
<D T3
« * £?§
te »
d
o cd
CD „
TJ co
CO ^Q
5 d
^
=3 g^
92 cd o
T3
o3
CO r^3
d CO
II
„r>-J v-J O oj CD
*H Q "» . „ CD -r-C
co rd .S CO -d
co -fj r"~ co r,
J$ vce CD ^
^3rO
« 03
rd
Ph g
a g 8 ►»
v o.-s
.a * 2
S3 oo d os
3 CD ^ te
^ £ CD !f
a J^ S3 •
go ra PL, a CD
| aTgcg^
CU CD ™ CD
CD ^3 > r^ O
CO "C CD rH CO
O
o o o o
o o o o o
o
• [uda^j
O
o o o o
o o o o o
©
S5
O O © IQ
OMOOO
CO
lie ui psorasuoo
OHM'*
r^ o © »o oo
co
«poo3 jo ^unoray
CO 5'V0'
l-T
I— 1
©_
CM
o o ©
o
•a;oqg
CD
a
o
-i-T o cm""
o
o} pa^odstiMj
£ r, r. j;
co"
spooS jo -junouiv
&
fc
co"
©
oo o o
o o o © o
©
o
O Q O O
© © © © ©
o
saadnH 9S8iBda>i
«o
O © O lO
OMOOO
to
m 'twdajsl w Pios
OIMMtX
I— 1 rH CO CO ©
©
aoud ^uqAi ^y
CO <M„C0
i— I
1— 1 I— 1
©
cT
co
o
o o o o
© © o o ©
o
•eaadna
b,-oo ui s^jodiuj
>o
o o o o
© © © © ©
©
CM
cTi— Tr- Ti— ""
»o co^o^co^c^
»o"co~co"»c5N
©^
1— 1
CO ■<* rH
fH
euiud pa^rai^sa
CO
Pin
2 of
« te
p d P
4a § 00
<
rH
2 rd CD CD
» CD
be £
*H r-< .^ .,-;
tf
3 cj oJ 'S.T'n
rd t>D bD tC be
»H rj 3 a a
<! a> c/2 H Ph
O
H
<
>
co
pq
O
r5
O
elves, the
% of the
thmandu,
<*-
o *
.a)
5 o
r-.-tt
CD f-
CO
CD
CO
CD
Ph
43
TI
CO ~ voS
a Iw
CD ex
«
PJ
CD
ci
O +i
for th
usual
lized at
CD
+->
§
a
r3" 5
rt-S
M ® OS
S
ot ^)
*rS £
d
O
>»?B
e3
jj
cs d
ai
is*-
« CD o
P CD
Cd §
fr4" 3 CD
bD^ £
r.fiw
1 h ^ «
r^ O O
^«r= W
CD d
«j d
■« d o
er is arr
, chiefly,
ve the a
rH
TJ
d
ci
so far ai
ation are
osts on a
^.S'Eb
ed
Tl
H S „
P.bD^
3
*M%
H
fc.9^
s,«^
54H
O
sJ CD ''<-5
•n 43 CD
d
c3 *i
•d rrj TJ
CD
s d °
TJ g §
O
d
CO
a) S^
<l> CD n
CO o °
03 * m
ontin
the s
ings
-3
tev may b
means of
merchant
do™
.2 CDrd
CD
03
PhO
OCQ
CD .n
^ a
J] jO
.2 § "
O^
d
d 2
* a
CD
3 CD
d os
r3 CD rd
03 Ph"1
CD
CD
-^^3=d
P> CD rrj
g^5 CD
CD >vd
m J? d
03 £3 d s 5
1 ^ o g
d be
? ^ a
be-^.d
03 -T)
a a z *» §
T3 r^ -u
5? <d ^0
0rd 9
Ti CO >H
a> u as ■ i? %
2 J
S 2
tf rj j o-- « o> -b
^ O ^3 ^ J-< ^ hJ
.gS^TI
o +> ra a §
to -
» 2 "^ j? 2 .a
■^ .S
A*
+> .a _ 3 « * 3
~ rt 2 a-- j -
30 ,-g |-S* §| ^ g~ f|w I ifefl
Bs2ji52&tr*iis;go
M'alll.s^-s gs %■- M« --2^
a°a.2c>a>a;>o ic— : < ^3 « ^ .sd
S +> »0 9. > M •_, ¥ * ."S °. «s
a
a
° ST*""" * «
a a a « cs *3
08 " d ^ rH O
K.-43
_ (*»
a i
■^ 5-. 9 •—- >■ S3 "^
^ n^T-g tog 3
*| »«-lS^^ £ rt a
a ^a -p
,a a -s <a
° =3 3 ^
■^ -p ^
'a a
o o
S °
"III*
'*3
CO M '
Is .a a -^
! > to— 1 J> a
o S-g
a a rt
a 5
4S.-JT
OH fa "n J?
IsSfl
rt - 2 ? a A *>
O „
: ,0
a rt '^
EL tcij '" If "ti ?*"* r3 «« 'a 3 >-
a 2
,a es to a D
p- " 5 ° ^3
S » « o o «
a _a -a o S * ^-^
— y ^ ^ a> co c
a a tncJ'-
.a >>
S »S S < •"- 'a -a "o -^ _a
Kaj0-g .oj^^^^^j.
« «> -p ^i
dj^tt-S
.^3 « 60-fi
S6-E1435o'-a,- OOl
c •
a. ff
ii4
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
H
00
p=i
O
•5
P4
60
XI
"*3
i
|
^
»■<
i—i
i— i
o
•K)
o
fc
-8
o
5b
^
H
Cm
»H
[^
'"W
fe
§
o
IS
e
H
>«
Q
<1
5
«
£•
H
**
5-
O
8L,
.«
^
s
e« >> «
_- ^ r-i
&cj3 -+3
^ «1)
o .2 "a
O 3
j 3 "
Ma; ^3
o.-*3
« 6 feS^o
a fc o o
"".2 a
^ ^ "S ^ -I -8
03 6b CO
3r2"3
t£|-
a ° — !
Sm j,* ~„~d
-P QQ <U O
bCTS "
■" a
a ® £
a t- o
cS .3
00 rrt
5 z! *» ^ S
o a
33
3 « a
M =1
o *h s 5-2
«£ 3 +»r3
' § 3^.2
a « o +5 o ° «;
.fiTS 45 % £ O £
o> „ o> *a H
. PQ oS J a -
Sb.a 5 »
•saadnjj
as8iyda_fj m \V^9K
psrausuoo spoof)
jo ^unoare pa^Rtm+sjj
•saadny
as9jpda^j ut 'spooQ
8sa[pdpjq; ptre 'jisqoBg;
n^qtj, J° s^iodxg; jo
^anotae ye%o% pa^Eim^sjjl
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
•saedny; osajpda^ ni
q^.ioj^t 8^1 rao.ij s^aodraj
jo ^unouiB pa^rai^sa
3
a
^«
y«
u
M
01
•+3 N3
A
vu
0)
to
o o o o
o o o o
o o o o
a •j:ir=iro "E >>
_ o
55>5
-2 s
3 ^> c« ■
o
M .a
02 ■**
«« 3
o o
K2 5 -T ©
"-1 00
NS a
#s
a) p a
o •"
3> a &
+3 3 tn S3
j) a*
eS i-
S ■
O-rO O „
°S
a.2^ >.
a) ^3
2 +3 03^
*3 =4 J O
3
a) p > «0
,a c6 O "oo
P3
fe
- • 1) t»
<d o :
-^ „ •
3 .U :
W-5 :
^ & :
o -
-P If
3 3 S S*^
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
115
2 73 _; WW
Eh §,3m
>— 73 i-H
.73 "3 >>
CD C k^l !S
"5 -o °*
i> «"73
« Oh ?
O 7?„ "^
C_i.tp— * g
0*72 £ Eh a
.a. a aj
3.2<«
DO fc< CD Ph -
a) o 73
= M
-a 2
— c 3 _a <D M
S | J3t3,0
rg O ~73 0 -W
CD -rj *e a> a J
CD O
«_i ««*£
P3 a _
^ rf? tjO to jj
!i,= Q ™ 3
K £Eh
O 73 CO
1 -3 -h aj co
CO 9 S t> "ti
a =* h af
CD 03
co a
S ^2 §•*.
2 3 3 CD a)
J3S.2SSW
3 a
cS ., t
<D 2 o
1 — 1 -3
,0. -*> 03
73 t3
fe^.S
m ^ (8 43 5 «M °
"S a to ^ 2 o ^
a u -a as a ^a
aj a b. ee «h
o3 ej 00 ©
5! cs £> a >> M
c=5 1 j a a a cd ?c
^3 -a
a ** cd 3
~ a „
<d ,3 -a £ x3 ■"
up „ a a co
co 0*13 a 2 •:-.
g ^> tO cS - O
^ 2 a "73 s ^
a,S-S£ 23.3
1 ~ a J a - -
_ to _ o*1
(0
735
^ cd a
£ o S s a a o .3
Eh -a OHja >-hhM -a, CD
? p.,—) 03 CD -P
3h « g 73
G 2
o a
2 35
73^ «
a a
P?
W O 3 O
. 03
-a a
CD 113
0000
o_ O^ O^ >o
CO~C£Tf-TcO~
o o o o
0000
10 O -*i o
0
03 to"
»>.
Oh
u
■d : :
CO
0 t; t-"
CD
CD
^ CD CD
5 CO CO
6 ^ 3
CD
M
is
10
03
«
-»j
03
QQ
O
kO
0
CO
•<n
-* 00 ■*
0000
0000
100 ■* ir^
to" co" r-T 00"
M
p O
*> cs 03 -*J
HCMlolO
r^ Q PP
«
O
CD
H
&
to
CD
U
CM
+j
3
O
43
~-
O
0
O
•3 ^ 73 -T CD 73
73 CD ^ g u a
_J ■- .3 « v. 3
H § I
oPWtS
CD "J
.a> oi
J33
n6
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
EC ^ [^
: T3
.2 o>" * ~~ a
0J « .-I
T3 -J
a is'?
rt o
15 j»^ g ® |
6^ 2
05 "S ^
ft'g § 5 =
3 os . r= S
.2-73-5 « <"
.2j^9 =
S 05
CO t>
O ° ~U 05 ®
S OBH5 M)g
os .5 a
oh ■
s 1 s *
f„o°W
$p & a
p Ijw J g
^a F-< 05 •« ih .« u
CT >"^ ^ Sr^rt
• .£>ja e-h a o
'd c
-2-2 <»'
03 ^
S3 o
~ ,„ -^
o .a *> ,<" Ha
po>g 05 o1-'
Suj C -P
£.a-~
rt * °
§J 5
1—1 a -fl a
«« EH S> .C On
O ® rl
0 2
05
> 05
c-i a to ^
044 S
o O +3 ih a r-i
O 05 <£ N3
r^a .xi , C-l
rg »0)
»H Jo
hi bD'
psiunsnoo spoo*)
jo ijnnoure p3cyeunc}sg
w-6
u;t>^
.3 r^3 J
i ti i
" ^ ^ '^ |^
|J 3
, of
: a
"a-
w
* M -S Q o
Eh cs^OQ
© o o o o
o o o o o
»o co co o 1--
o o
o ©
© ©
o ©
© ©
© 01
£0
c o c*
© © © ©
© © © ©
© ©_©_©_
©"i-Tr-Tof
c
•saadn^j
asajydosQ; ui 'spoof)
asapxlpN puB 'jBqo^Aj
'm^qiJi jo sqjodxg jo
© © © © ©
© © © © ©
o m n o 00
© © © © ©
© © © © ©
COH IO ,0) C-l
© ©
© ©
© ©
•saadn'jj asapsdaj^ ni
{^.ioj^ 9i\% cnojj s^iodra j
jo ^unouiB pa^raiqsg;
© © © © ©
© © © © ©
»C 00 © © »o
05 "•*,*
r j3 of
o
© © © © ©
© © © © ©
lO ■* «D © ^*l
-
-
O
0
( :
0
O
©
C
©
c
©
©
r--.
in
oi
IO
:\
'71
1-1
6
0
O
t;
•t; rd tS
■rt
Ph
0
3
Ti
'-
T3
DQ
«5 O
ED
ti
r~i
©
rt
O
O
1-1
-w
C3
-w
CO
F1
1-1
©
0
O
O
Li
Qtt
50000 -ri
05 13 "V T3 'S r-^
■CC3 *-
os pi
*5 ^
CO CO CO
ri-Q
05
05 o
a 2
«0 til
CO 05 CO
^ i 'r
cc ^ aJ <x to
CO C-. CM CM r*H
O 05 o o
*f5^ +) 4^
r/
*
s .a »-
2
■-
V
r
«
Si
-
CO
6
a
I
3
1*
c
j-
%
c
s
e1
0
|
IE
'i
oS
0.
pq
a
•S
-
a!
B3
pq
OS
05
1
pq
^ > 0
05 "~"'J5
OS O • - ,S
CTJOC cM
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
117
"Pi_S
CD
a .
a
■»•$ O
<D CD
1 -at s
_ 03
g2 a
S 3 ^
£ o o
^^ a
a? y
0 £..
cd T3 to
a ^3
2 «-o JfC
o - ~3 eo h
te -3 "
O p CD
§ 5" .9
3<5;a 8
o» "-(ro_nrcro oj : n goo qj rz oj
rd g 5 "a « S a 'g -a g'-Js e g ^
jjCD^-,*^Sr-*^JCl> .** r; a _lji
2 — ' 5 ° '
a 53 v
► "pa
to oS ©
»-3 CO > O'
CD
03 58 « J3
fcn £ oS <-'
h 11 S ft
~ ft+S
oS S
cd o .a
3J» §5 >>0
O ^3 P-T3 CD S
a
CD ~ *->
_, -P CO
-3 O CD
'ja^
CD jd „
9 -e *-g
1 '-U CO O fc< —
2"i <* n rt
^g CD OS ft
! 2 >■•- ^ a
5 os <d a
3 03 -^ O CO -a .S
n ■•- £ a ■» -3
• "S ,-"*-
?? V ,2 CD
ft •—'>» S*
p> _OJ q CD CD b .
"a J °ic *> "5 §
.a .2 * — - « n
— T-*5
s s
§33 *
p-j
0 — o o
CD CD 5
^03S^j
£> - bO
M >» to
S -§*
-a .3 to^
» hi -a
!©
aal
>>£
jg u « .-a o •S o
3 b-2 &.a cd
P _, co -- 3 2
rt b^ « co- 2 o
EH g"S cd 2 2 S
.d -5 w a S
^7 -+3 ^— 1 *3 <Li
OS CD ^
1 «*-< a os
gflfl
.-S «
t? co a ^
! +3 t, o^<«
■,&^u a
i . 'o S 8 »
I rO OS t-l -^> -*J
? J M fe <U
,HB5 a a
) •' CD Sh O
; M M oS CC
! <os a Es
i ^mjs
» s -s s
! W U CD rM
£ W o a o
ft OS 5:
.ae
S gM
»zi os=a oEth^m
a B3
3
OS P O
0
S O)"®
—
0
°S5
0
-3 "5 >
PQ vC~,r^
>)
!5>
&
Pnt/2
M
ho
g ^ .12 5
^^ 0 0
g «««
o o
Q flSy
00 00
00 00
M
a u
OS OS
OO <0
00 o
wo »o_
of of i-T
o 000
o c> o c>
10 eo its o
r-T i-T co"
o o
o o
10 »o
o o
C' o
O C5 o o
o 00©
r-T i-T OS"
^ T3
o o
o o
o 10
00 00
00 00
O 00 ow
o © o
© © ©
f)NO
'
CD ■
O •
.2 0
CD
i~
O
O
na
0
73
0
0 0
■■0 'w
O O
: 13
-a cd
-g O OS
CS ^ >>
03
0
d
T3
J
CD
CD
U
eu .
" Is
. . &.
3*
-w
ft
P5^
0
0
0
0
0 0
0 0
» °
P3T3 0
OMCB
CI
eo
CO
HZ T3
■* 1— 1
cc ©
© ^
<o
53
eo
CM
-* C<I
<M
0 0
O
c
0
O O
O O
0 t<
OOO
0
0
0
a
a
O
+3 -*J
-t>
2
+J
*> *>
-w 0
^-(O)
oS
IO
o o o
pp p
Q P Q OQ
o o
^ a a
QM
OOO
— CO
C . - « o3 oj J
Hfig K Ph PQ
oS ■*» „
ail
os^j
1- 3
S3
<m o a
ft a
j^a02-0
OS O © S^-Ti
t- 3 3 cd -a -
3 -3 J 0 /- ^
2 os ^ 2
M -a
b -^ a
n8
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
S
o
is, &c, come
jht stone is
jade by its
o
a
cs
a
rO
43
•rt
DQ
t3
eg
o
iC
'if
■-
ft
M
r.
03
—
all over the
is the Gos-
Baz ; male.
a,
CO
CO
w
o
43
co
3
B4H
0
"3
CO
CD
a
-a
bo
=
0
a
rt
>!
rt
B
X
7i
CO
a
a)
-a
S i
pq fc
13
>>
CO
a
CD
A
CD
a
CD
3
03
5
3
o
CD
CO
+3
5(H
co
1?
U
o
CS
o
'J
cs
CD
03
4H
CO
to 1
aTE-
CD
i>-
^ c
o
O
cs
O
.2
j
M
0
Li
o
_o
CO
a>
3
_g
•d
■«
CO
0
>.
0
CD
,0
CO -"
'o CO
CD ""'
C£
CO .
+3 CO
co d
b0-*3
a Hi
.2 |
a'?
^^
S 2
o n
O r-
-r3 c
,2
Bj
a
0
03
|
H
0
•4H
43
O
fl
CO
(1
a)
CO
.2
'3
43
a
3
O
s
co
CO
o£
ft,T2
CO 3
■*= a
a j.
"J
c* =n
3
(H
-a
0
JO
03
—
O
u
ft
a
os
-a
a
o
S
09
3
/a
is
CO
(h
o
ft
H
CO
CO
u
ci
£>Ja
"3 Jh
d
a 2
M
g
(-
CO
A
EH
o
O
CD
tZ5
CO
09
a
o
CC
a
S3
m
r.
15
3(=
O 43
o
43
f-,
^
43
tib i
i-
cs
cs o
M
to
3
C
BE
C
na
^3
o
^c
o
g ft
o
VC3 £
3o
r-3
3'
O
c
4.
P
-3
CO
CO
CO
ft
ft :S
PL,
c(
(Zi
saadny
o o
o o
o
c
o
S
C
o
o
ssajpdajsj ui
Tpda^
lO o
o
of
o
C
K
CO
at paransnoo
SpOOQ
jo ^nnomB pareuq+sg
•saadn^j
o o
o o
o
o
o
c
C
c
c
c
asajpdajj ui
'spoof)
<M CN
O
C
CD
a
c
o
« o"
888^ld9J«J pu"B
'j^qoTJ^i
i—t
o
Tt
CM
m^aqij, jo s^-iodxa jo
limomB p+o+ pa^ini^sg
© o
o
o
c
o
•saadny; asa^cda^j in
© o
o
o
c
c
c
q+.io£j aq^ raoj:
sqaodiii]
c*T
CC
c
co"
jo jnnome p^ismpsji
.2
6 6
3
r$
A
"B »0 T!
3 »
cj
a
CO
CO
o
o
-13
c
T
c
t
cr
c-
c
—
c
c
CO
CO rt
o o
43 43
Hot
o
43
1-1
c
-1-
cr
r
C
a
CO
CO
ft
3
CO
ft
CO VCD
Pi
l£5
CI
s
o
—
c
—
C
oS
u CO
p^ be a>
cj c S
CD «s 2
J -a r^
PS
E
c
t-
Eb
o
fe
p
r*
r« o
M
^c
6
43
■r-a
-*J
c
CO
cs
"aT
L-
CS
o
<>
Ed
O
H
43 r-
c a
a) a
3
cu
1
E
c
c
p.
C3
cr
+
(1
CO
ft
(3
c
1
*
0
CJ
rt
?
0
c
>
5
CO
cu
-a
zn
t
0
c
c-
1
C
c
a
C
-■ c
c
C
L|
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
1I9
P3
O jfl d^i+i I- » » 3 d o °
<u a ,fi -^ <n w JS ts o S, J; a ^
ft 3 -5 03 2 9,, -3^3
m a > &:3 3^^^-w^ o
1> <~ -3 •».<-> ^ (.^j-S*
3 M m 03 <" ® "3
<b £.2
,2 eg OJ «d .2
o - g
&
cS
-a S-° *
cj 03
^^<a ?
i)
«oa
m j .a 2 o
«5 M*3 2 —
=3 a s
.3 5.
3h O 03 ^
3 -^ Jl
(-. £
«a
W a> "s ciHH seen o ,0 P-i S o
*a -i -w k>
a >^ 2
-Jag
» -2 * N
03 =1 ..
six*.
"2 -•» a s
a « 2
rt ^4 O «4
3 fc TS «
©a
So
03 S3
% ?s >
aso^a
cj 3
03^
*S H
a) — a"
i^<J'*
.a -a £
-*^ -^ o
pj ■*» «
• 8aa,
2 S"
^3 w 03
-*-» 03 .
o ~f 3-
£ °
'S "S '3 S 'a "o
® o *- a> u a '
|h5
00 -M S.
3.2H
PhT3
a a §
,.2a
0Q a
O 4t rt
TJ
&® S-*3
WD «
A. u S
O 3 —
0r§tf
as S
CD
? -a g r- _,- o
0
O I _
.3 4> .„
tJO „ 3 'c« -3 ">
-e 2 2 — "-^
^ " s ^^a
a _« 03 c 1^
'" 'S *> 3 3
■B T3 n- -a O
rS O b0
&^-a
S-2 [3
rV" ...
0) 13 -u
■tf 03 a
Ml
M to co
o) 3 a
a o I,
.2 o o
S-a
(]3 O
O Cm"
_a «a a
fi Q
SIHH siI!H
J3SS9I pnB ^saao^j jsss8{ paB ^saaoj;
-aud aoinraoD a; -a«d uoramoo ni
i^jnj, 8s»{yda^j I'BJBjj asajpda^;
tbjbx l?dp^[
o o
© ©
© ©
© © © © © © <=
© © © © © © ©
©^lO^© O^'O, <N 0-1
P3.
P3
0j ©
M
Cm O 3 .
.*" « a
2 — -a
o 2-2 03
« S oH
P5 P ft d
W ^
« -c
i-m o += a
QQo
3 3 ft- E tg
^2 *
5^E
«
W
0 -
0 s
$«2
2 «
0 -s
£3|
■* a
Ph s
a M
0 j
0 ^
MH
3 a *=*
m. w -a
a ^
03 W
teo 25 s
a j (3
r- r- C- H B
120
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
13
O
o
to
•A
K
a
The Nepalese Saul Forest is an inexhaustible
mine of timber. Saul and Sissoo are the most
valuable kinds of produce.
The open low lands of Nepal have been won-
derfully resuscitated by the continued peace
and alliance with our Government, and the
energy of the Nepalese administration since
1816. No regular troops are maintained there
by the Government, and the Civil establishment
is on a very moderate scale, nor do any of the
mountaineers holding lands reside there. The
whole net produce of the land, consequently, is
exported to Patna, &c, and chiefly on Govern-
ment account. It is paid for in money there-
fore, and these low lands not only supply the
Government of Nepal with bullion for its cur-
rency, but enable it to furnish itself with the
luxuries of the plains, and to maintain the
balance of a trade which, so far as the hill pro-
duce is concerned, is always apt to be against
Nepal.
58
-a
is
<■> CJ
0) C3
O
S-.
1
f Nepal Tarai.
1
1
CO
cc
lO
©"
CD
of
■>*
•saadn}T
asajyda^ ni rpdpj^;
hi pamnsuoo spoog
jo ^unoure pa^unjsg
©
©
i— i
CO
•saedrijj
asajyda^ at 'spooQ
asajydaj^ pcre J^qoB^j
'cnnaqtj, jo s^iodxg jo
}unoure p^n'} pa^reairjsg
•saadn'jj esarudp^j nj
qj.to^jaq^ rao.t j s^aodtn j
jo qunouru pacrerai^i
1,000
3,00,000
6,00,000
J- 1,00,000
©
o
OO
w
*•»
CO
CO
OO
-*"
cc
o"
I— 1
©
o
©
cc
CD
co~
©^
co"
«0 .
■a s
i s,
a a
-C3 4>
" CD
rt CU
CD l^r
'C
d4
: : : : : c
: : : : s
: : • : : P="
CD CD CD CD CD S!
■„ S-i U f-i s- c
a a cs to cj *a
ooooo !z
8?
a!
02
o
■3
a
oo
u
CD
CD
Q
V
"3
S
rn CO
p a
M 3
°
SO
3
M
o
==
y:
s
~
•n
a
-
o
Q
o
§
W
W
PQ
y< s
THE COMMERCE OF NEPAL.
121
o bo o> ;s ,_ ; i- a
■~ 3 -3 3 i— i
5?
o
EH
w
M
O
hJ
•<
(3
W
o
„ 0) •— 1
-* -e ^ +?
g S-, ,_, -P "^ 00 "p 3 05 =+-!
H t M
2 m
• ~tf
,SC5^
a s-s
. t! ,a
05 -P
05 CC
<3 ctf
. a a
! a Ji 2 ,2 d
<o %, fe 55 ^ "3
5 JB _. ** -2
j o ©
"* c .d o ° EL.2 p
^ 6-s SS-notf^^ a,
-p a> "5
O ao
o> ,-T
05
rf 'S -P <3i
1 CO
o-2
a .2
ks
a
a- o
"S-^
05 H
.h 0"< „ ,3 cj 05
- 3 += S "m ^ ^
a o 5+i^ « 2 ~*
£ >>© H ?5
._, 05 cs co a -g
— JJ I O 10 (j ^
^pa-p^s-ppx
• » jig fci-5
' !zi -S - J S
i-g&SSS
■— ' o
a
rt oT
-> -= ^ .2 3
cS O
! t-'C „'
o a
T3 —
1 <U <D ,_i GO
. 2:2
,2 p<
05 p so
~ fe a
- S'S
d et O O
05 J
# " § 8 * *
'C l^
^ W.2
4j 0) cS
-a a j
o 5^
QJ 0> cS kH r3
°- +3 ^J 21 O ^" J^» '
.2 a ^ cc ^ 3 o
! -3 -p o
^ 3 ^ -P
£ a o p; «'
— 1) -P 3 _Q ?■
„ © »5 u a '&
£ p, £ =--° <u -^ .2 x tj 5
*- s <* ■ ^ S4 a "3 ® 'S 2
lST}S«.2«2.sfe'§2
a ^"5 >- -^ j5 a p-p a
Ss 5 £ p,i_( ■< -p a a: -
> a^ r3 2 & ■-
a|^a
p ^ "^ »> *
y T3 05
a c
O
O
3^ g
'^53.2
ft BJ -^ J tH
w -p a
-p ts ^ c z?
» § £ ^
° S
05 2 -^ 2 05
a -° 2 § -2
u fci ®
o ^ tJ p2
a ,a p cs
§ hh ^ 3° M. a
S t,+5 2 a
a
o -a
E _o
-
O
-M
>
^ .3
:>
a! ^5 -p a
■>
p
05 "41
p
-
B
05
<v
o p
a
o
a
a
o
o
<p
B
05
Is
a
B
©
:■
-;
J-
B
rt
i.
ee
QE
a
o
CO
2
-p
2
c
o
PL
05
>
05
u
05
CH
T)
13
05
O
B
P
as
<*-i a
0
OG
1— 1
2
05
t2
a
^
^
ce
43
tr
~
O
-
a
B
"ei
■g
■> a^ a
rg 2 ** _
cS cS
cl, 3
2 *= o)
05 £ o -p
o S
'A 9
O
O
P
O
M
- «e s 05
E? g aa a 5 -2 ^=
S a ^ ■-* j: v j
■s. s $ ts ° §■§
3 ,0) 05 _ ~, --
% t^.a 5* £ s ^
o ^
^J:
h5 a) a- "a o 2 2 -
J3 3 o iJag-
JJ X CJ T-»-P -P "
TV
INDEX.
Abhidhanottarottara, 19.
Acharya, 30.
Adbhuta Dharma, 15.
Adi Buddha, 27, 46 ff., 77, 83 ff.
His 32 lakshanas, 90.
His 80 vyanjanas, 91 f.
His 5 varnas, 91.
Adi Dharma, 116.
Adi Prajna, 85 ff.
Adi Sangha, 88.
Aiswarika system, 23 ff., 55 ff., et passim.
Akara, 92.
Akasa, 74 ff., 104 f.
Ananda, 12.
Anupapadika Buddhas, 27.
Aparamita Dharani, 18, 32.
Arhat, 30, 52, 70 f.
Artha, 92.
Arya Bhagavati, 16.
Ashta Sahasrika, 12 f.
Prajna Paramita, 16.
Vyakhyii, 16.
Asoka Avadana, 17.
Asva Ghosha, 127 ff.
Atman, 75.
Avadana, 15.
Avatara, 47 f.
Avidya, 16, 79 ff., 89, 105 ff.
Bala, 92.
Bandya, 30 ff., 51, 63 f., 71, 139.
Bauddha literature, 9 ff.
Bhadrakalpika, 17.
Bhanjin Mola, 8 f. 14.
Bhikshu, 30, 52, 63, 71.
Bhot, 9, 22.
Bhotiya language, 3 ff., 22, ii., 29 ff.
Bhotiya characters, 9 ff.
Bhotiya works, list of, 20 f.
Bhiitam, ii., 29 ff.
Bhuvanas, 42 f., 76, 91.
Bodlncharya, 19, 68.
Bodhijnftna, 16, 59, 61 f.
Bodhtsattwa, 62, 74, 77.
Botia, ii., 61 f.
Brahmans, ii., 39.
Buddha, 46 ff., 62, 72.
Causes of good and evil, 50.
Chailaka, 30, 52, 64.
Chaitya, 29 ff., 49, 52, 54, 64, 71, 81, 136.
Chaitya Pungava, 19.
Chakpa, ii., 66.
Chakshu, 93.
Chepang language, 1, ii., 47 ff.
tribe, ii. , 45 ff.
Chhandomrita Mala, 18.
Chivara, 19, 141.
Circumambulation, 19.
Creation of the World, 42 f.
DakshinXchara, 73.
Dana, 15.
Dasa Bhumeswara, 13, 16, 49, 54.
Dasa Siksha, 142.
Deha, 44.
Den war, ii., 62.
Dharana, 40.
Dharani, 18, 49.
Dharani Sangraha, 18.
Dharma, 40 f., 55, 60, 72, 109, 113.
Dharmakara, 116 ff.
Dharmapala, 118.
Dhwajagra Keyuri, 19.
Dhyana, 25 ff., 42, 58, 61.
Dhyani Buddha, 27, 58, 64.
Dhyani Bodhisattwa, 28 ff., 59.
Digambara, 40.
Divyavadana, 20.
Drokpa, ii., 66.
Dwiivinsati Avadana, IS.
EkthA'riahs, ii., 38 f., 43.
Export Trade of Nepal, ii., 114 ff.
Five Buddhas, 77.
Ganda VYtfHA, 13, 16, 4!».
Gatha, 14 f.
Geya, 14 f.
Gita Pustaka, 20.
God's attributes, 45.
Gorkhii, ii., 40.
Gorkhali, 2, ii , 52.
Graha Matrika, 19.
INDEX.
12
Guhya Sumagha, 17.
Guna Karanda Vyuha, 17, 54.
Gurung language, 1 f., ii., 29 ff.
Gurung tribe, ii., 39 i., 44.
Gyami, ii., 65 ff.
Gyarung, ii., 65 ff.
Haiyu language, 1.
Haiyu tribe, ii., 46.
Himalaya, name, ii. , 1 ; physical geography,
ii., 1 ff. ; population, ii., 13 ff. ; zoology,
ii., 16 ff. ; aborigines, ii., 29 ff. ; colonisa-
tion, ii., 83 ff.
Hor, Horpa, Horsok, ii., 65 ff.
Import Trade of Nepal, ii., 105 ff.
Ityukta, 14 f.
Jataka, 15.
Jataka Mala, 17.
Jnana, 27 ff., 92.
Kachari-, 1.
Kalpalatavadana, 20.
Kanaka Muni, 119.
Kapila, 2.
Karanda Vyuha, 17, 54.
Karkotaka, 115.
Karma, 25, 74, 78 ff.
Karmika system, 23 ff., 41, 57, 78 ff.
Karuna Pundarika, 18.
Kasyapa, 12, 119.
Katkinavadiina, 19.
Kuya, 92.
Khas language, 1 f., ii., 38 ff.
Klias tribe, ii., 28 ff., 37 ff.
Kiranti, 1 f.
Krakucchanda, 117 ff.
Kriya Sangraha, 9.
Kshattriyas, ii. , 38 ff.
Kusunda language, 1.
Kusunda tribe, ii., 45 ff.
Kuswiir, ii., 61 f.
Kutagara, 49.
Lalita Vistara, 13, 17, 49.
Lanja, see Eanja.
Lankavatara, 13, 49.
Lapcha, Lepcha, 1, ii., 29 ff.
Lhopa, ii., 29 ff., 47 f.
Limbu, 1, ii., 29 ff.
Litsavis, 17.
Lokeswara Sataka, 19.
Magar language, 1 f., ii., 29 ff.
Magar tribe, ii., 39 f., 43 f.
Mahakala Tantra, 19.
Mahasunyata, 74.
Mahavastu, 17.
Mahayana Sutra, 11.
Mahayanika Buddha, 32, 60, 72, 86.
Manas, 78 ff .
Manichura, 18.
Manjhi, ii., 62.
Manjughosha, 62.
Manjunatha, 62.
Manjusri, 62, 116 ff.
Manushi Buddhas, 7.
Manushi Bodhisattwas, 28 ff.
Manyak, ii., 65 ff.
Maracharya, 68.
Matter, 44, 55.
Metempsychosis, 51.
Military tribes of Nepal, ii., 37 ff.
Moksha, 25, 45 ff., 50, 55, 84.
Murmi, 1, ii., 29 ff.
Na*gas, 115 ff.
Niigapuja, 19.
Nagavasa, 115 ff.
Nava Dharmas, 12 ff., 49, C9.
Nayaka, 63, 71, 140 f.
Nayakot, ii., 55 ff.
Nepal languages, 1 ff. ; written characters,
8 ff. ; religion, 22 ff. ; name, 51, 117 ;
legendary history, 115 ff.; commerce, ii.,
91 ff.
Newari, 1, 3 ff., 47, 63, ii., 29 ff.
Newars, 1 ff., 51, 62.
Nidana, 14 f .
Nirlipta, 63.
Nirodha, 16.
Nirvana, 46, 82.
Nirvritti, 16, 23 ff.
104 f.
Nivasa, 19, 141.
41, 45 f., 55 ff., 74 ff.,
Objects of Bauudha worship, 93 ff.
Origin of mankind, 43 f., 79 ff.
Original language of Bauddha scriptures,
66 f.
Pali, 120 ff.
Pancha Abhisheka, 142 f.
Pancha Raksha, 18.
Paraimtii, 13, 15, 91.
Parbattia, see Khas.
Pauriinikas, 73.
Pauranika Buddhas, 29.
Pindapatra, 19.
124
INDEX.
Pindapatra Avadana, 19.
Prachanda Deva, 1 18 f .
Prajna, 42, 53. 56, 61, 72, 75, 78 ff., 89, 104 f.,
109, 116.
Prajna Paramita, 12, 14, 16, 49, 60, 62.
Prajnika Swabhavika system, 25, 55 ft., 62.
Prakrit, 120 ff .
Prakriti, 55.
Prana, 44.
Pratisara, 18.
PratyangiriL Dharani, 19.
Pratyeka Buddha, 32, 60, 87.
Pravrajya Vrata, 139 ff.
Pravritti, 16, 23 ff., 41, 45 f., 55 ff., 74 ff.,
104 f.
rravrittika, 24, 61.
Primary language of Buddhist writings,
120 ff.
Puja Khanda, 11, 54, 139.
Puranas, 38f.,49.
RakshjC Bhagayati, 12, 14, 16, 60.
Ranja, 8 f., 14.
Saddhakma Pundarika, 13, 17, 49.
Sahi, ii., 39.
Saivism, 133 ff.
Sakavansa, 2.
Saktis of Buddha, 58 f .
Sakya Sinha, 11 ff., 70, 119 f.
Sakyavausikas, 70.
Samadhi Raja, 13, 17, 32, 49.
Sambhu Purana, 14, 17, 27, 53, 57, 62, 115 ff.
Sangha, 41, 69 ff.
Sankara Achaiya, 12, 14, 48.
Sansara, 45, 74.
Sanskrit, 3, 5 ff., 66 f., 120 ff.
Sanskrit Bauddha literature, 11 ff., 36 ff.
Saptavara Dharani, 19.
Saraka Dhara, 18, 54,
Sarira, 44.
Sarvartha Siddha, 32.
Serpa, ii., 29 ff.
Shadayatana, 80.
Sifan, ii., 65 ff.
Sikhi Buddha, 115.
Sokpa, ii., 65 ff.
Spirit, 44.
Sravaka, 30, 52, 86.
Sravaka Buddha, 32, 60.
Stotra Sangraha, 20.
Sugataja, 86.
Sugatavadana, 19.
Sukhavati Loka, 19.
Sumaghavadana, 19.
Sunwar, 1, ii., 29 ff.
Sunyata, 16, 24 ff., 59 ff., 74 ff.,83, 93, 105.
Sutra, 12, 14 f., 60, 87.
Suvarna Prabhasa, 13, 17, 49.
Swabhava, 25, 73.
Swabhavika system, 13, 23 ff., 41, 55 ff., 61.
73 ff., 105.
Swayambhu, 17, 111.
Swayambhu Purana, see Sambhu Purana.
Thakpa, ii., 65 ff.
Tantras, 36 ff., 49.
Tantrika Buddhas, 29
Tantrikas, 73.
Tapas, 25 ff., 61.
Tarai, ii., 3, 21.
Tara Satnama, 19.
Tathagata, 62, 77, 97, 101 ; lists, 33 ff.
Tathagata Guhyaka, 13, 49.
Thakuri, ii., 39, 43.
Thochu, ii., 65 ff.
Tibet (see also Bhot) literature, 9 ff. ; lan-
guages, ii., 29 ff.
Triad (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha), 27, 53,
103.
Trigunatmaka, 50.
Triyana, 60, 102, 145.
Udana, 15.
Upadesa, 15.
Upali, 12.
Upaya, 72, 78, 89, 104.
Vaipulya, 15.
Vajra Acharya, 41, 52, 63 f. , G\>. 99.
; Vajra Pani, 17.
! Vajra Sattwa, 73, 136.
Vajra Suchi, 127 ff.
Vamachara, 73.
\ Vasita, 92.
| Vihara, 29 ff., 52, 62 ff.
Vija Mantra, 73, 76.
Vinaya, 37.
Vinaya Sutra, 20.
Vipasyi Buddha, 115.
Viswabhu Buddha, 115 f.
Vyakarana, 12, 15 ff.
Yatna, 25, 74, 82 f.
Yatnika system, 23 ff., 41, 57. 82 i
Yoni, 56.
Yugas, 44,
DATE DUE
^ ria ' **
GAYLORO
PRINTED IN U S.A.
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11