s:

_Milinda._ Does the being who acquires it, attain something
that has previously existed?--or is it his own product, a
formation peculiar to himself?

_Nagasena._ Nirva_n_a does not exist previously to its
reception; nor is it that which was brought into existence.
Still to the being who attains it, there is Nirva_n_a.

In opposition, therefore, to the more advanced views of the Nihilistic
philosophers of the North, Nagasena maintains the existence of
Nirva_n_a, and of the being that has entered Nirva_n_a. He does not
say that Buddha is a mere word. When asked by king Milinda, whether
the all-wise Buddha exists, he replies:

_Nagasena._ He who is the most meritorious (Bhagavat) does
exist.

_Milinda._ Then can you point out to me the place in which
he exists?

_Nagasena._ Our Bhagavat has attained Nirva_n_a, where there
is no repetition of birth. We cannot say that he is here,
or that he is there. When a fire is extinguished, can it be
said that it is here, or that it is there? Even so, our
Buddha has attained extinction (Nirva_n_a). He is like the
sun that has set behind the Astagiri mountain. It cannot be
said that he is here, or that he is there: but we can point
him out by the discourses he delivered. In them he lives.

At the present moment, the great majority of Buddhists would probably
be quite incapable of understanding the abstract speculation of their
ancient masters. The view taken of Nirva_n_a in China, Mongolia, and
Tatary may probably be as gross as that which most of the Mohammedans
form of their paradise. But, in the history of religion, the historian
must go back to the earliest and most original documents that are to
be obtained. Thus only may he hope to understand the later
developments which, whether for good or evil, every form of faith has
had to undergo.

_April, 1857._

XII.

CHINESE TRANSLATIONS

OF

SANSKRIT TEXTS.[91]

Well might M. Stanislas Julien put [Greek: heureka] on the title-page
of his last work, in which he explains his method of deciphering the
Sanskrit words which occur in the Chinese translations of the Buddhist
literature of India. We endeavoured to explain the laborious character
and the important results of his researches on this subject on a
former occasion, when reviewing his translation of the 'Life and
Travels of the Buddhist Pilgrim Hiouen-thsang.' At th