A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s7.54

v2.c19.s7.54

¹ As early as in the year 1612 the Portuguese Diogodo Conto compared the Barlaam-Josaphat legend with that of Buddha (Ind. Ant. XII, p. 288 f.). It was, however, Laboulaye who first asserted the Buddhist origin of the legend, in Journal des Débats of the 26th July 1859. The proof was then furnished by Felix Liebrecht (in Jahrbuch für romanische und englishe Literatur II, 1860, p. 314 ff. and in his book "Zur Volkskunde", Heilbronn 1879, p. 441 ff.). The whole history of the story has been traced throughout universal literature, by *E. Kuhn* ("Barlaam und Joasaph, eine bibliographisch-litterargeschichtliche Studie," ABayA XX, München 1897). Kuhn (p. 39) believes, however, that the author "made very free use of the entire Buddhist tradition, and not of one particular text like the Lalita Vistara." Cf. also the literature cited in *V. Chauvin*, Bibliographie des ouvrages Arabes III, 1893, p. 83 ff., and *H. G. Rawlinson* in JBRAS 24, 1915, p. 96 ff. Even *Günter*, l.c., p. 92 ff., cannot but admit that Josaphat is the Bodhisattva, though he is very anxious to minimize the influence of the Buddhist legend over the Christian one, and prefers to assume nothing more than a "distant indirect influence" (p. 41).