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Some Problems in the Criticism of the Sources for Early Buddhist History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2011

Walter Eugene Clark
Affiliation:
Harvard University

Extract

Buddhist literature is not complete in any one language. The primary sources for the study of Buddhism consist of texts in Pali, in Sanskrit (with some fragments in Prakrit, and a few texts in a mixed dialect — as though composed by men who were trying to turn Prakrit into Sanskrit but who had a very imperfect knowledge of Sanskrit grammar), in Chinese, in Tibetan, and in several of the languages which were current in Chinese Turkestan. There are also texts in Mongolian, but these seem to be derivatives from Tibetan, and not of primary importance.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1930

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