A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s1.74

v2.c19.s1.74

Moreover, the Buddhist Sanskrit literature [^1) testifies to the antiquity and the fidelity of the Pāli transmission. This literature, composed partly in good Sanskrit, partly in "mixed Sanskrit," [^2) comprises works of the most varied kinds and of the most widely differing sects. One of these sects, namely that of the Mūlasarvāstivādins, had a canon of its own in Sanskrit, and it is only in recent times that fragments of it have been discovered in Central Asia. We find that this canon, though not translated from the Pāli, yet affords splendid evidence of the fidelity of the Pāli transmission : for, in spite of numerous deviations in the wording and the arrangement, there are yet so many literal agreements between the Sanskrit Canon and the Pāli Canon, that we must take it for granted that there is a uniform tradition behind both collections. In the Sanskrit texts of the Buddhists of Nepal, as well as in the works of the various Buddhist sects, known only through Tibetan and Chinese translations, we can establish a fundamental stock not only of doctrines, but also of texts, agreeing in all essentials with the transmission of the Pāli Canon. The more this Buddhist Sanskrit literature is opened up, and the more minutely it is compared with the Pāli Canon,[^3) the more it is proved that Oldenberg is right when he says : "The Pāli copy, though naturally not of infallible accuracy, must still be judged as