XVIII. THE SACRED BOOKS.

The Budhas, the sacred books, and the priesthood, are regarded as the three most precious gems. They are all associated in the threefold formulary repeated by the Budhist when he names, as an act of worship, the triad to which he looks as the object of his confidence and his refuge. There is thus among the Budhists the same reverence paid to the number three, that we witness in nearly all ancient systems, as in the Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva of the Brahmans; the Amoun-ra, Amoun-neu, and Sevek-ra of the Egyptians; and the Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto of the Greeks

and Romans.

The importance of the possession of a written code, regarded as having been given by inspiration, may be seen in the fact that no system of religion has yet become extinct that has presented a record of this description. However absurd the document may be in itself, or however unintelligible the style in which it is written, it has appeared as the palladium of the system it contains. Hence the missionaries to the east have a difficulty to contend with that was not presented to the early messengers of the cross in any of the countries where they principally laboured. But from the same cause the priests of India are encumbered by weapons that may be wrested from their hands, and used to their own destruction. When it is clearly proved to them that their venerated records contain absurdities and contradictions, they must of necessity conclude that their origin cannot have been divine; and the foundation of the systems being once shaken, the whole mass must speedily fall, leaving only the unsightly ruin, as a monument of man's folly, when he endeavours to form a religion from the feculence of his own corrupt heart, or the fancies of his own perverted imagination. And there is another thought that must not be forgotten. Whenever the Scriptures have been translated into any language, from that time there have always been individuals speaking that language who have believed in the truths they contain, so long as the dialect has continued in use as a vernacular medium of intercourse.

In our notice of the sacred books of the Budhists we propose to consider:-1. Their names and divisions. 2. The history of their transmission. 3. The honours they receive and the benefits they confer in return.

I. Names and Divisions.-The second of the three great treasures

is called Dhammo, or in Singhalese, Dharmma. This word has various meanings, but is here to be understood in the sense of truth. It is not unfrequently translated" the law," but this interpretation gives an idea contrary to the entire genius of Budhism. The Dharmma is therefore emphatically, the truth. In common conversation this venerated compilation is called the Bana; the books in which it is written are called bana-pot; and the erection in which it is preached or explained is called the bana-maduwa. The word bana means literally the word; from the root bana, or wana, to sound. In the names that have been given by different religionists to their sacred books there is a considerable similarity of meaning, which is generally marked by simplicity. Thus, we have the Scriptures, or the writings; the law, torah, from the root torah, instruc tion; the Talmud, from the root lamad, to learn; the Gemara, from a root of similar meaning, gamar, to learn; the Mishna, from the root shamah, to repeat; the Koran, from the root karaa, to read; the Zand Avasta, from zand, the Persian language, and avasta, word; and the Veda, from vida, to know. The different portions of the Dharmma, when collected together, were divided into two principal classes, called Suttáni and Abhidhammáni. These two classes are again divided into three collections, called respectively in Singhalese-1. Winaya, or discipline. 2. Sútra, or discourses. 3. Abhidharmma, or pre-eminent truths. The three collections, as already intimated (page 1), are called in Pali, Pitakattayan, from pitakan, a chest or basket, and tayo, three; or in Singhalese, Tunpitaka. A Glossary and a Commentary on the whole of the Pitakas were written by Budhagósha, about the year A. D. 420. They are called in Pali, Atthakathá, or in Singhalese, Atuwawa. The Rev. D. J. Gogerly has in his possession a copy of the whole of the sacred text," and the principal of the ancient comments, which, however, form but a small portion of the comments that may exist." As this gentleman resided in 1835, and some subsequent years, at Dondra, near which place the most learned of the priests in the maritime provinces in Ceylon are found, he had admirable facilities for securing a correct copy of the Pitakas. Mr. Turnour states that the Pali version of the three Pitakas consists of about 4,500 leaves, which would constitute seven or eight volumes of the ordinary size, though the various sections are bound up in different forms for the convenience of reference.

1. The Winaya Pitaka contains the regulations of the priesthood.

It is said to be the life of the religion of Budha, as where discipline is at an end, religion is at an end. It is divided into five books :1. Párájiká. 2. Páchiti. 3. Maha Waggo, or Maha Waga. 4. Chúla Waggo, or Chula Waga. 5. Pariwárá Pátá. "The Párájiká and Páchiti contain the criminal code; the Maha Waggo and Chúla Waggo the ecclesiastical and civil code; and the Pariwárá Pátá is a recapitulation and elucidation of the preceding books, in a kind of catechetical form."

This Pitaka contains 169 banawaras, which appear to resemble the sidarim into which the books of the Old Testament were divided by the Jews, being the portion read in the synagogue upon one Sabbath day. The first sixty-four banawaras constitute the Bhikkhuni-wibhango; the next eighty, the Maha Waggo; and the last twenty-five, the Pariwárá Pátá. As each banawara contains 250 stanzas, called gáthás or granthas, composed of four pádas, or thirty-two syllables, in this Pitaka there must be 42,250 stanzas. The Commentary on it, called Samantapásadiká, contains 27,000 stanzas. Thus, in the whole of the Winaya Pitaka, including the text and the comment, there are 69,250 stanzas.

The Párájiká occupies 191 leaves; the Páchiti 154; the Maha Waggo 199; the Chula Waggo 196; and the Pariwárá Pátá 146; each page containing about nine lines, and averaging 1 foot 9 inches in length.

2. The Sútra Pitaka contains seven sections. It is said in the commentary called Sumangala Wilásiní, as translated by Turnour, that the Suttan is so called "from its precise definition of right; from its exquisite tenor, from its collective excellence, as well as from its overflowing richness; from its protecting (the good), and from its dividing as with a line (or thread)." For each of these epithets various reasons are given. It is said to overflow, "because it is like unto the milk streaming from the cow." It is like a line, "because as the line (suttan) is a mark of definition to carpenters, so is this suttan a rule of conduct to the wise." In the same way that flowers strung together upon a thread, or line, are neither scattered nor lost, so are the precepts which are contained herein united by this (suttan) line." The seven sections, called sangis, are as follows:-1. The Díghanikáyo, or Dik-sangi, written upon 292 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 10 inches long. It contains three warggas, Sílaskhanda, Maha, and Páti, and has 64 banawaras, or 16,000 stanzas, including 34 sútras of greater

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length (dígha, long) than the rest, the first being the Brahmajálasutra. 2. The Majjhima-nikáyo, or Medum-sangi, written upon 432 leaves, with eight and nine lines on each page, and 1 foot 11 inches long. It contains three pannásas, Múla, Majjhima, and Upari, and has 15 warggas, including 80 banawaras, 152 sútras, of moderate (majjhima, middle) length, and 21,250 stanzas. 3. The Sanyutta-nikáyo, or Sanyut-sangi, written upon 351 leaves, with eight and nine lines on each page, and 2 feet 2 inches long, It contains five warggas, Sata, Nidhána, Skhanda, Saláyatana, and Maha. It has 100 banawaras, 7,762 sútras, classed (sanyutta) under different heads, and 25,000 stanzas. 4. The Anguttaranikáyo, or Angótra-sangi, written upon 654 leaves, with eight or nine lines on each page, and 1 foot 10 inches long. It has six nipátas, Tíka, Chatuska, Panchaka, Chasattaka, Atthanawaka, and Dasa-ékádasa; and it has also 120 banawaras, 9,557 sútras, in different classes (anga, members), and 44,250 stanzas. Khudaka-nikáyo, or Khudugot-sangi, contains 15 books, some of which are in the form of sermons, and has 44,250 stanzas :-(1.) The Khudapatan, written upon four leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 2 feet 4 inches long. (2.) The Dhammapadan, or Dampiyawa, the Paths of Religion, written upon 15 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 1 foot 8 inches long. It contains 423 gáthás, which appear to have been spoken on various occasions, and afterwards collected into one volume. Several of the chapters have been translated by Mr. Gogerly, and appear in the Friend, vol. iv. 1840. The Singhalese paraphrase of the Paths, is regarded by the people as one of their most excellent works, as it treats upon moral subjects, delivered for the most part in aphorisms, the mode of instruction that is most popular among all nations that have few books at their command, and have to trust in a great degree to memory for their stores of knowledge. A collection might be made from the precepts of this work, that in the purity of its ethics could scarcely be equalled from any other heathen author. (3.) The Udánan, written upon 48 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 3 feet long. It contains compilations from other parts of Budha's discourses. (4.) The Itti-attakan, written upon 31 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 9 inches long. (5.) The Suttánipátan, written upon 40 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 2 feet long. (6.) The Wimána-watthu, written upon 158 leaves, with seven and eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 9 inches long. (7.) The Péta-watthu, written upon 142 leaves, with eight and nine

lines on each page, and 1 foot 8 inches long. (8.) The Théra-gáthá, written upon 43 leaves, with nine lines on each page, and 2 feet 4 inches long, contains instructions to the priests. (9.) The Therígáthá, written upon 110 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 7 inches long, contains instructions to the priestesses. (10.) The Játakan, containing an account of 550 births of the Bodhisat who afterwards became Gótama Budha. The text and commentary are blended into one narrative, in which form it is written upon 900 leaves. (11.) The Niddéso (of the size of which I have not met with any account). (12.) The Pathisambhidan, or Pratisambhidáwa written upon 220 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 1 foot 11 inches long. (13.) The Apadánan, written upon 196 leaves, with ten lines on each page, and 2 feet long. (14.) The Budha-wanso, written upon 37 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 2 feet long. (15.) The Chariya-pitako, written upon 10 leaves, with eight lines on each page, and 3 feet long.

It is said in the Sadharmmálankáré that the whole of the five sangis contain 142,250 stanzas; but this does not agree with the separate numbers as stated in the same work. The commentary contains 254,250 stanzas. Hence the whole of the Sutra-pitaka, including both the text and commentary, contains 396,500 stanzas.

3. The Abhidharmma-pitaka was addressed by Budha to the déwas and brahmas. "The books are not in the form of sermons, but specify terms and doctrines with them, with definitions and explanations." It contains seven sections. 1. The Dhammasangani, written upon 72 leaves. 2. The Wibhanga, written upon 130 leaves. 3. The Kathá-watthu, written upon 151 leaves. 4. The Puggalan, or Pudgala-pragnyapti, written upon 28 leaves. 5. The Dhátu, written upon 31 leaves. 6. The Yamakan written upon 131 leaves. 7. The Patthanan, written upon 170 leaves. The whole of these leaves are 2 feet 4 inches long, and average about nine lines on each page.

The text contains 96,250 stanzas, and in the commentaries Arthasáliníya, Sammówinódana, and Sattaka, there are 30,000; so that in the whole of the Abhidharmma-pitaka, including both the text and commentary, there are 126,250 stanzas.*

For the names of the books, their divisions and their size, I am indebted to Turnour, and for the character of their contents to Gogerly, see Turnour's Mahawanso; Turnour's Examination of the Pali Budhistical Annals, Journal Bengal As. Soc. July 1837; Gogerly's Essay on Budhism, Journal Ceylon Branch Royal As. Soc. vol. I. part i. The other parts of the information contained in this section are taken from the Singhalese Sadharmmálankáré,