Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 11.djvu/31

Rh even correct to read through the whole of passages which were never intended to be read. We shall do wisely when coming to a phrase which we already know, to make use of a little judicious skipping, and, noting the course of the argument, to pass on, with even mind, to the next paragraph.

I send forth the following translations with very great diffidence. It is not too much to say that the discovery of early Buddhism has placed all previous knowledge of the subject in an entirely new light; and has turned the flank, so to speak, of most of the existing literature on Buddhism. I use the term 'discovery' advisedly, for though the Pâli texts have existed for many years in our public libraries, they are only now beginning to be understood; and the Buddhism of the Pâli Pitakas is not only a quite different thing from Buddhism as hitherto commonly received, but is antagonistic to it. I cannot hope that the renderings of the many technical terms, now for the first time submitted to the judgment of students of early Buddhism, will all stand the test of time. So perfectly dovetailed is the old Buddhist system, so utterly different from European Christianity are the ideas involved, so pregnant are the expressions used with deep and earnest religious feelings resting on a foundation completely apart from our own, that the translation of each term becomes a problem of great difficulty and delicacy. Where Gogerly or Burnouf has dealt with any word, the process has been easier: but there are many words they have not touched, and while Gogerly had no sympathy with these ancient beliefs, Burnouf has confined himself chiefly to later phases of Buddhism. There are several paragraphs—such as the one at Chapter I, § 12 of the Book of the Great Decease—which have cost me more time and trouble than the reader of the few words they contain will easily believe; and it would be impossible to add a note to every word justifying the rendering which was finally adopted to convey the Buddhist idea, without involving at the same time some misleading implication.