It is possible that some English readers may have given so little attention to Indian subjects, that further preliminary explanations may be needed by them before commencing the perusal of the following pages. For their benefit I have written an Introduction, which I hope will clear the ground sufficiently for all. Let me now discharge the grateful duty of tendering my respectful thanks to the Governments of India for the patronage and support they have again accorded to my labours. Let me also acknowledge the debt I owe to two eminent Sanskritists-Dr. John Muir of Edinburgh, and Professor E. B. Cowell of Cambridge-for their kindness in reading the proof-sheets of the present series of lectures. These scholars must not, however, be held responsible for any novel theories propounded by me. In many cases I have modified my statements in accordance with their suggestions, yet in some instances, in order to preserve the individuality of my own researches, I have preferred to take an independent line of my own. Learned Orientalists in Europe and India who are able adequately to appreciate the difficulty of the task I have attempted will look on my errors with a lenient eye. As I shall welcome their criticisms with gratitude, so I shall also hope for their encouragement; for, often as I have advanced in my investigations, and have found an apparently interminable horizon opening out before me, I have felt like a foolhardy man seeking to cross an impassable ocean in a fragile coracle, and so have applied to myself the well-known words of the great Sanskrit poet:— तितीर्षुर्दुस्तरं मोहादुडुपेनास्मि सागरम् ॥ Titirshur dustaram mohad uḍupenāsmi sāgaram. Oxford, May 1875. M. W. THE INDO-ROMANIC ALPHABET WITH THE EQUIVALENT SANSKRIT LETTERS AND RULES FOR PRONUNCIATION. VOWELS. A, a, for, pronounced as in rural; A, ā, for WT, T, as in tar, father; I, i, for §, f, as in fill; I, 7, for, 7, as in police; U, u, for 3,„, as in full; Û, u, for,, as in rude; Ri, ri, for,, as in merrily; Ri, ri, for,& as in marine; E, e, for T, as in prey; Ai, ai, for, as in aisle; 0, 0, for,, as in go; Au, au, for,, as in Haus (German); ʼn or m, for *, i.e. the Anusvāra, sounded like n in French mon, or like any nasal; h, for, i. e. the Visarga or a distinctly audible aspirate. CONSONANTS. n K, k, for, pronounced as in kill, seek; Kh, kh, for A, as in inkhorn ; G, g, for, as in gun, dog; Gh, gh, for, as in loghut; N, n, for, as in sing (sin). Ć, é, for, as in dolće (in music),=English ch in church, lurch (lurć); Ćh, ch, for, as in churchhill (éurchill); J, j, for, as in jet; Jh, jh, for, as in hedge-hog (hejhog); Ñ, ǹ, for 3⁄4, as in singe (siñj). T, t, for 7, as in true (tru); Th, th, for 7, as in anthill (anțhill); D, d, for 3, as in drum (drum); Dh, dh, for 7, as in redhaired (reḍhaired); Ņ, n, for , as in none (nun). T, t, for 7, as in water (as pronounced in Ireland); Th, th, for, as in nut-hook (but more dental); D, d, for, as in dice (more like th in this); Dh, dh, for y, as in adhere (more dental); N, n, for 7, as in not, in. P, p, for, as in put, sip; Ph, ph, for, as in uphill; B, b, for, as in bear, rub; Bh, bh, for, as in abhor; M, m, for Я, as in map, jam. Y, y, for, as in yet; R, r, for T, as in red, year; L, l, for, as in lie; V, v, for, as in vie (but like w after consonants, as in twice). S', s, for , as in sure, session; Sh, sh, for ч, as in shun, hush; S, s, for , as in sir, hiss. H, h, for, as in hit. Fuller directions for pronunciation will be found in a 'Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language,' by Monier Williams, third edition, published by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, and sold by Macmillan & Co., and by W. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place. Also in a Sanskrit-English Dictionary, published by the same. Christianity compared with Brahmanism, Buddhism, and Islām xxxv IN INTRODUCTION. this Introduction1 I shall endeavour, first, to explain how Sanskrit literature is the only key to a correct knowledge of the opinions and practices of the Hindu people; and, secondly, to show how our possession of India involves special responsibilities and opportunities with reference to the study of the three great systems of belief now confronting Christianity in the world-Brāhmanism, Buddhism, and Islām. To clear the ground let me review very briefly the past and present history of the great country whose teeming population has been gradually, during the past two hundred and fifty years, either drawn under our sway, or, almost against our will, forced upon our protection. The name India is derived from the Greek and Roman adaptation of the word Hindu, which was used by the Persians for their Āryan brethren, because the latter settled in the districts surrounding the streams2 of the Sindhu (pronounced by them Hindhu and now called Indus). The Greeks, who probably gained their first conceptions of India from the Persians, changed the hard aspirate into a soft, and named the Hindus 'Ivdoí (Herodotus IV. 44, V. 3). After the Hindu Aryans had spread themselves over the plains of the Ganges, the Persians called the whole of the region between the Panjāb and Benares Hindūstān or abode of the Hindus,' and this name is used in India at the present day, especially by the Musalmān population. The classical name for India, however, as commonly 1 Some detached portions of the information contained in this Introduction were embodied in a lecture on 'The Study of Sanskrit in Relation to Missionary Work in India,' delivered by me, April 19, 1861, and published by Messrs. Williams & Norgate. This lecture is still procurable. 2 Seven rivers (sapta sindhavaḥ) are mentioned, counting the main river and the five rivers of the Panjab with the Sarasvati. In old Persian or Zand we have the expression Hapta Hendu. It is well known that a common phonetic interchange of initial s and h takes place in names of the same objects, as pronounced by kindred races. 3 The name Hindustan properly belongs to the region between the Sutlej and Benares, sometimes extended to the Narbada and Mahā-nadī rivers, but not to Bengal or the Dekhan. |