students by profession only. Oriental scholars have been blamed for not having as yet supplied a want so generally felt, and so fre- quently expressed, as a complete, trustworthy, and readable transla- tion of the principal Sacred Books ofthe Eastérn Religions. The reasons, however, why hitherto they have shrunk from such an undertaking are clear enough. The difficulties in many cases of giving complete translations, and not selections only, are very great. There is still much work to be done in a critical restoration of the original texts, in an examination of their grammar and metres, and in determining the exact meaning of many words and passages. That kind of work is naturally far more attractive to scholars than a mere translation, particularly when they cannot but feel that, with the progress of our knowledge, many a passage which now seems clear and easy, may, on being re-examined, assume a new import. ‘Thus while scholars who are most competent to under- take a translation, prefer to devote their time to more special researches, the work of a complete translation is deferred to the future, and historians are left under the impression that Oriental scholarship is still in so unsatisfactory a state as to make any reliance on translations of the Veda, the Avesta, or the Tao-te King extremely hazardous,
It is clear, therefore, that a translation of the principal Sacred Books of the East can be carried out only at a certain sacrifice. Scholars must leave for a time their own special researches in order to render the general results already obtained accessible to the public at large. And even then, really useful results can be achieved viribus unitis only. If four of the best Egyptclogists have to combine in order to produce a satisfactory edition and translation of one of the Sacred Books of ancient Egypt, a much larger number of Oriental scholars will be required for translating the Sacred Books of the Brahmans, the Buddhists, the Zoroastrians, the followers of Khung-ffi-3ze, Lao-3ze, and Mohammed.
Lastly, there was the most serious difficulty of all, a difficulty which no scholar could remove, viz. the difficulty of finding the funds necessary for carrying out so large an undertaking. No doubt there exists at present a very keen interest in questions connected with the origin, the growth, and decay of religion. But much of that interest is theoretic rather than historical. How people might or could or should have elaborated religious ideas, is a topic most warmly discussed among psychologists and theolo- gians, but a study of the documents, in which alone the actual growth of religious thought can be traced, is much neglected.
oso
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. xliti
A faithful, unvarnished prose translation of the Sacred Books of India, Persia, China, and Arabia, though it may interest careful students, will never, I fear, excite a widespread interest, or com- mand a circulation large enough to make it a matter of private enterprise and commercial speculation.
No doubt there is much in these old books that is startling by its very simplicity and truth, much that is elevated and elevating, much that is beautiful and sublime; but people who have vague ideas of primeval wisdom and the splendour of Eastern poetry will soon find themselves grievously disappointed. It cannot be too strongly stated, that the chief, and, in many cases, the only interest of the Sacred Books of the East is historical; that much in them is extremely childish, tedious, if not repulsive; and that no one but the historian will be able to understand the important lessons which they teach. It would have been impossible to undertake a trans- lation even of the most important only of the Sacred Books of the East, without the support of an Academy or a University which recognises the necessity of rendering these works more generally accessible, on the same grounds on which it recognises the duty of collecting and exhibiting in Museums the petrifactions of bygone ages, little concerned whether the public admires the beauty of fossilised plants and broken skeletons, as long as hard-working students find there some light for reading once more the darker pages in the history of the earth.
Having been so fortunate as to secure that support, having also received promises of ‘assistance from some of the best Oriental scholars in England and India, I hope I shall be able, after the necessary preparations are completed, to publish about three volumes of translations every year, selecting from the stores of the six so-called ‘Book-religions’ those works which at present can be translated, and which are most likely to’ prove useful. All trans- lations will be made from the original texts, and where good translations exist already, they will be carefully revised by compe- tent scholars. Such is the bulk of the religious literature of the Brahmans and the Buddhists, that to attempt a complete translation would be far beyond the powers of one generation of scholars. Still, if the interest in the work itself should continue, there is no reason why this series of translations should not be carried on, even after those who commenced it shall have ceased from their labours.
What I contemplate at present, and I am afraid at my time of life even this may seem too sanguine, is no more than a Series
xliv PREFACE TO THE
of twenty-four volumes, the publication of which will probably extend over eight years. In this Series I hope to comprehend the following books, though I do not pledge myself to adhere strictly to this outline :—
1. From among the Sacred Books of the Brahmans I hope to give a translation of the Hymns of the Rig-veda. While I shall continue my translation of selected hymns of that Veda, a traduc- tion raisonnée which is intended for Sanskrit scholars only, on the same principles which I have followed in the first volume’, explaining every word and sentence that seems to require elucida- tion, and carefully examining the opinions of previous commen- tators, both native and European, I intend to contribute a freer translation of the hymns to this Series, with a few explanatory notes only, such as are absolutely necessary to enable readers who are unacquainted with Sanskrit to understand the thoughts of the Vedic poets. The translation of perhaps another Samhita, one or two of the Brahmanas, or portions of them, will have to be included in our Series, as well as the principal Upanishads, theosophic trea- tises of great interest and beauty. There is every prospect of an early appearance of a translation of the Bhagavad-gita, of the most important among the sacred Law-books, and of one at least of the Purazas. I should have wished to include a translation of some of the Gain books, of the Granth of the Sikhs, and of similar works illustrative of the later developments of religion in India, but there is hardly room .for them at present.
2. The Sacred Books of the Buddhists will be translated chiefly from the two original collections, the Southern in’ Pali, the Northern in Sanskrit. Here the selection will, no doubt, be most difficult. Among the first books to be published will be, I hope, Siitras from the Digha Nikdya, a part of the Vinaya-pi/aka, the Dhammapada, the Divydvadana, the Lalita-vistara, or legendary life of Buddha.
3. The Sacred Books of the Zoroastrians lie within a smaller compass, but they will require fuller notes and commentaries in order to make a translation intelligible and useful.
4. The books which enjoy the highest authority with the fol- lowers of Khung-f@-3ze are the King and the Shi. Of the former the Shi King or Book of History; the Odes of the Temple and
* Rig-veda-sanhita, The Sacred Hymns of the Brahmans, trans- lated and explained by F. Max Miller. Vol. i. Hymns to the Maruts or the Storm-Gods. London, 1869.
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. xIv
the Altar, and other pieces illustrating the ancient religious views and practices of the Chinese, in the Shih King or Book of Poetry; the Yt King; the Li Af; and the Hsido King or Classic of Filial Piety, will all be given, it is hoped, entire. Of the latter, the Series will contain the Kung Yung or Doctrine of the Mean; the TA Hsio or Great Learning; all Confucius’ utterances in the Lun Yii or Con- fucian Analects, which are of a religious nature, and refer to the principles of his moral system; and Mang-3ze’s Doctrine of the Goodness of Human Nature.
5. For the system of Lao-3ze we require only a translation of the Tao-teh King with some of its commentaries, and, it may be, an authoritative work to illustrate the actual operation of its principles.
6. For Islam, all that is essential is a trustworthy translation of the Koran.
It will be my endeavour to divide the twenty-four volumes which are contemplated in this Series as equally as possible among the six religions. But much must depend on the assistance which I receive from Oriental scholars, and also on the interest and the
wishes of the public. 8
F. MAX MULLER.
Oxrorp, October,: 1876.
The following distinguished scholars, all of them
occupying the foremost rank in their own special
departments of Oriental literature, are at present
engaged in preparing translations of some of the
Sacred Books of the East: S. Beal, R. G. Bhan-
darkar, G. Biihler, A. Burnell, E. B. Cowell, J.
Darmesteter, T. W. Rhys Davids, J. Eggeling,
V. Fausbdll, H. Jacobi, J. Jolly, H. Kern, F. Kiel-
horn, J. Legge, H. Oldenberg, E. H. Palmer, R.
Pischel, K. T. Telang, E. W. West.
The works which for the present have been selected for translation are the following :
I. ANcIENT VEDIC RELIGION.
Hymns of the Azg-veda. The Satapatha-brahmama.
xlvi PREFACE TO THE
The Upanishads. The Grvzhya-sitras of Hirawyakesin and others.
II. LAaw-BooKs IN PROSE.
The Satras of Apastamba, Gautama, BaudhAyana, Vasish¢ha, Vishuu, &c.
Ill. LAW-BOOKS IN VERSE. The Laws of Manu, Y4gfiavalkya, &c.
IV. Later BRAHMANISM.
The Bhagavad-gita. The Vayu-puraza.
V. BuppHIsM. 1. Pali Documents.
The Mah4aparinibbana Sutta, the Tevigga Sutta,
the Mahasudassana Sutta, the Dhammaéakkappa-
vattana Sutta; the Suttanipata; the Mah4avagga,
the Aullavagga, and the PAtimokkha.
2. Sanskrit Documents. The Divyavadana and Saddharmapuzaarika.
3. Chinese Documents. The Phia-ydo King, or life of Buddha. 4. Prakrit Gaina Documents.
The Af#aranga Sdatra, Dasavaik4lika Stra, Sftra- krztanga, and Uttaradhyayana Sitra.
VI. Parst REticion.
1. Zend Documents; The Vendidad.
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. xl vil
2. Pehlevi and Parsi Documents.
The Bundahis, Bahman Yasht, Shayast-la-sh4yast, Dadistani Dini, Mainyéi Khard.
VII. MoHaMMEDANISM. The Koran.
VIII. CuinesE RELIGION. 1. Confucianism.
The Sha King, Shih King, Hsiao King, Yi King, Li Ai, Lun Yii, and Mang-jze.
2. Taoism.
The Tao-teh King, Awang-;ze, and Kan Ying
Phien.
xl vill PREFACE TO THE
TRANSLITERATION OF ORIENTAL ALPHABETS:
The system of transcribing Oriental words with
Roman types, adopted by the translators of the
Sacred Books of the East, is, on the whole, the
same which I first laid down in my Proposals for
a Missionary Alphabet, 1854, and which afterwards
I shortly described in my Lectures on the Science
of Language, Second Series, p.169 (ninth edition).
That system allows of great freedom in its appli-
cation to different languages, and has, therefore,
recommended itself to many scholars, even if they
had long been accustomed to use their own system
of transliteration.
It rests in fact on a few principles only, which
may be applied to individual languages according to
the views which each student has formed for him-
self of the character and the pronunciation of the
vowels and consonants of any given alphabet.
It does not differ essentially from the Standard
Alphabet proposed by Professor Lepsius. It only
endeavours to realise, by means of the ordinary
types which are found in every printing office, what
my learned friend has been enabled to achieve, it
may be in a more perfect manner, by means of a
number of new types with diacritical marks, cast
expressly for him by the Berlin Academy.
The general principles of what, on account of its
easy application to all languages, I have called the
Missionary Alphabet, are these:
1. No letters are to be used which do not exist in ordinary founts,
SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST. xlix
2. The same Roman type is always to represent
the same foreign letter, and the same foreign letter
is always to be represented by the same Roman
type.
3. Simple letters are, as a rule, to be represented by simple, compound by compound types.
4. It is not attempted to indicate the pronuncia-
tion of foreign languages, but only to represent
foreign letters by Roman types, leaving the pro-
nunciation to be learnt, as it is now, from gram-
mars or from conversation with natives.
5. The foundation of every system of translitera-
tion must consist of a classification of the typical
sounds of human speech. Such classification may
be more or less perfect, more or less minute, accord-
ing to the objects in view. For ordinary purposes
the classification in vowels and consonants, and of
consonants again in gutturals, dentals, and labials
suffices. In these three classes we distinguish hard
(not-voiced) and sonant (voiced) consonants, each
being liable to aspiration; nasals, sibilants, and
semivowels, some of these also, being either voiced
or not-voiced.
6. After having settled the typical sounds, we
assign to them, as much as possible, the ordinary
Roman types of the first class.
7. We then arrange in every language which
possesses a richer alphabet, all remaining letters,
according to their affinities, as modifications of the
nearest typical letters, or as letters of the second
and third class. Thus linguals in Sanskrit are treated
as nearest to dentals, palatals to gutturals.