p. xi

　　INTRODUCTION

　　TO

　　THE SUTTA-NIPÂTA.

　　 THE Collection of Discourses, Sutta-Nipâta, which I have here translated[1], is very remarkable, as there can be no doubt that it contains some remnants of Primitive Buddhism. I consider the greater part of the Mahâvagga, and nearly the whole of the Atthakavagga as very old. I have arrived at this conclusion from two reasons, first from the language, and secondly from the contents.

　　 1. We not only find here what we meet with in other Pâli poetry, the fuller Vedic forms of nouns and verbs in the plural, as avîtatamhâse, panditâse, dhammâse, sitâse, upatthitâse, pavâdiyâse, &c., and karâmase, asmase, sikkhissâmase; the shorter Vedic plurals and the instrumental singular of nouns, as vinikkhayâ, lakkhanâ for vinikkhayâni, lakkhanâni, mantâ, pariññâ, vinayâ, lâbhakamyâ for mantâya, &c.; Vedic infinitives, as vippahâtave, sampayâtave, unnametave; contracted (or sometimes old) forms, as santyâ, gakkâ, duggakkâ, sammukkâ, titthyâ, thiyo, parihîrati for santiyâ, gâtiyâ, sammutiyâ, titthiyâ, itthiyo, parihariyati, by the side of protracted forms, such as âtumânam; but also some unusual (sometimes old) forms and words, as apukkhasi, sagghasi[2] = sakkhissasi, sussam = sunissâmi (Sansk. sroshyâmi), pâva and pâvâ = vadati, pavekkhe = paveseyya, parikissati = parikilissati, vineyya, vikeyya, nikkheyya, pappuyya, = vinayitvâ, &c., datthu = disvâ (S. drishtvâ), atisitvâ = atikkamitvâ, anuvikka = anuviditvâ, paribbasâna = vasamâna, amhanâ (S. asmanâ) = pâsânena, vâkîbhi, katubbhi, rattamahâbhi, ise (vocative), suvâmi = sâmi, maga = miga,

　　[1. Sir M. Coomâra Swâmy”s translation of part of the book has been a great help to me. I hope shortly to publish the Pâli text.

　　2. C reads pagghasi.]

　　p. xii

　　tumo = so, parovara = parâvara, bhûnahu = bhûtihanaka, upaya, âmagandha, dhona, vyappatha, vyappathi, vevikkhâ, visenibhûta, visenikatvâ, patiseniyanti. Sometimes we meet also with difficult and irregular constructions, and very condensed expressions. All this proves, I think, that these parts of the book are much older than the Suttas in which the language is not only fluent, but of which some verses are even singularly melodious.

　　 2. In the contents of the Suttanipâta we have, I think, an important contribution to the right understanding of Primitive Buddhism, for we see here a picture not of life in monasteries, but of the life of hermits in its first stage. We have before us not the systematizing of the later Buddhist church, but the first germs of a system, the fundamental ideas of which come out with sufficient clearness. From the Atthakavagga especially it is evident where Buddha takes his stand in opposition to Philosophy (ditthi = darsana).

　　 Indian society at the time of Buddha had two large and distinguished religious sects, Samanas and Brâhmanas. This is apparent from several passages where they are mentioned together; for instance, Vinaya, ed. Oldenberg, II, p. 295; Grimblot, Sept Suttas Pâlis, p. ix, 8 &c., 118 &c., 158 &c., 306 &c., 309; Dhammapada, p. 392; Suttanipâta; vv. 99, 129, 189, 440, 529, 859, 1078; Sabhiyasutta, at the beginning; the Inscriptions of Asoka; Mahâbhâshya, II, 4, 9 (fol. 398 a); Lalita Vistara, pp. 309, l. 10, 318, l. 18, 320, l. 20; and lastly, Megasthenes (Schwanbeck,…

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