Indian Literature In China And The Far East

The term 'Indian' has been used by western scholars to cover Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit; some have even included the vernaculars of India. I have used the term 'Indian' in that comprehensive sense; for the translations that appeared outside India were made not only from the classical languages, but from the old Bengali, Dardaic languages, central Asian dialects and even .

The term 'Literature' used in the title of the book needs also a word of explanation. Pure literature does not seem to have gone to China: at least, there is no record of such works. The bulk of literature, that went outside India with the monks, was Buddhist. The majority of these books are unknown in India, because the originals are lost. It is well-known to the students of Buddhism that Pali and Prakrit were not the only vehicles of expression: Sanskrit came to be used largely as the literary language by the Mahayanists and even many sections of the Hinayanists used the same language. Several thousands of books were written in Sanskrit; but these are almost all lost except those preserved in Nepal and one or two found here and there in India.

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