Page:Barlaam and Josaphat. English lives of Buddha.djvu/53

Rh reading for Bodasaph, since y and b in Arabic are only distinguished by a diacritical point. As we have already seen, Bodasaph is directly derived, through the Pehlevi, from Bodhisattva, the technical title of the man who is destined to attain Buddhahood, a description that exactly applies to the career of Josaphat. The very name, therefore, of the hero implies a conscious Buddhistic tendency in the original form of the legend, and tells against Dr. Kuhn's contention for a Pehlevi Christian original.

It is also probable that the first name in our title can also be traced back to India, but on the exact form, which was the original, learned opinion is not at present united: and a mere reporter, like myself, can only put the conflicting claims before the reader and allow him to take his choice. We have seen that Barlaam is merely a Syriac substitute for Balauvar. Dr. Kuhn points out, that in the Zend alphabet g and l are almost identical, while we have already seen that n and r might easily mistake themselves for one another. Consequently, this pundit suggests Bhagavan is the real original