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REVIEWS.
FEB. 2, 1872.]
budhya is either directly a corruption from bud h nya or it comes from a form bu dha—no longer extant, but corresponding in meaning
to the word bu d'h n a. A vab udhya means “grounded (established) on horses depending on horses.” I. 92, 7.prajávato nriváto dºvabudhyān āsho
góagrán tipa mási väjän “Aurora, bestow upon us, together with posterity and sons, possessions which shall have their founda
is called the foundation of all property and the procurer of treasures. In I, 92, 8 we have— tishastām aºyám yagásam suvīram dásápravargam rayim éºvabudhyam | “O Dawn, may I attain to the glorious prospe rity which is accompanied by excellent sons and numerous slaves, and is supported on horses.” I. 121, 14.—
prá no väjän rathyö 4ºvabudhyān ishé yandhi ºrávase singitāyai |
tion in horses, and their summit in cows.” Agra
“Give us possessions accompanied with chariots,
and budhna are also opposed to each other in
supported on horses, for power and renown and
III. 55, 7, X. 111, 8, 135, 6 and Agni in I. 96,6,
delight.”
REVIEWS.
THE DASARATHA JATAKA, being the Buddhist Story of King RAMA. The original Pāli text, &c. by W. FAUSBöLL. Copenhagen : 1871. 48 pp. 8vo.
position assigned to him in the Rāmāy an a, but
Prof. Weber's essay Uber das Rá māyana,
breaks the news gently to Lakkh an a and Sit 4 who give way to grief. Bhar at a asks Rām a the
published about a year and a half ago, proved almost
cause of his indifference, and is answered by some Gathas, which are evidently intended to be sung
beyond doubt that the well known Indian epic, the Rāmāyana, is based on a Buddhist legend,
to a simple accompaniment, and thus to relieve the monotony of the prose recital for a popular audi
and drawn up in its present form, not more than 1600 years ago, chiefly under Greek influences.
ence. One cannot help comparing the Jātakas to the Arabic romances of 'Antar, &c., which may be still heard in Cairo and Algiers, and which, like
This result of his researches must have startled
many, and though the argument is supported by vast learning and copious quotations, it must be a great satisfaction to all interested in Indian liter ature to see the authentic text critically edited and
translated by so well known a scholar as Dr. Fausböll. The original Rám a-saga forms one of the nu merous Játak a stories which Buddha is said to
have related in illustration of his doctrine, and which get their name from the events related having occurred during former existences of Bud dha.
In this case Buddha had existed as Rāma.
Among the Játak as are to be found most of the legends we meet with in Sanskrit literature, and even tales which exist in the Sanskrit Panch a
tan tra; the value of the collection is thus very great, and especially because these tales here occur
in a much older and less corrupt form than can be found elsewhere.
This Buddhist Ráma-saga forms a striking con trast to the complicated and perverted version of the
Rāmāy an a with its supernatural trumpery. Dasa ratha is here said to have had three children, Rāma, Lakkhana, and Sít à by his first, and a son Bhārata by a second wife. By intrigues in in favour of Bhārata, the second wife gets Ráma banished for twelve years. His brother and sister attend him and serve him dutifully. In the ninth year D as a rath a dies, and Bhārata, refusing to profit by his mother's wickedness, goes in search of Rāma, and tells him the news of his father's death. The philosophic Rám a displays the apathetic dis
the Jātakas, are essentially popular as opposed to the exclusive spirit of the general literature. The most striking, perhaps, are— 3. “What cannot be preserved by man, even if much bewailed.
for such a thing's sake why should the in telligent (and) wise (man) distress himself.”
5. “As ripe fruits
always are in danger of falling, So born mortals
always (are) tending to death.”
6. “In the evening some are not seen (any more), (although) in the morning many were seen ; (and) in the morning some are not seen, (although) in the evening many were seen.” 7. “If by lamenting The fool, who (only) injures himself, gains anything,<let the wise (man) do the same too.” 8. “ (But) he (only) becomes lean (and) sallow, (while) injuring his own self, (and) the dead are not saved, lamentation (therefore) is of no avail,” &c."
Lakkh an a tries to persuade Rám a to return as king; he, however, refuses to do so before the end of the twelve years, and sends his straw shoes which are placed on the throne, and by their striking to gether the ministers knew when injustice was done. At the end of the twelfth year, he returns, is thron ed as king, and makes his sister his queen. The statement that S it 4 was at once R 4 m a' s sister
- Compare Yajnvalkyasmriti, iii. 8–11, where similar 94thds occur.
