A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s1.78

v2.c19.s1.78

If we had only the Pāli texts and nothing besides, we should certainly form merely a one-sided idea of Buddhism. On the other hand, if only the Sanskrit and semi-Sanskrit Buddhist texts and none of the Pāli Canon had come down to us, we should have an entirely distorted picture of Buddhism and only a scanty notion of the original teaching and personality of Buddha. We may say this without any bias in favour of the Pāli transmission, and without denying that our knowledge of Buddhism and especially of its history is very materially completed and extended by the Sanskrit Buddhist literature of Nepal, as well as by the Chinese and Tibetan translations from the Sanskrit.