About the Book
Anyone who has reviewed Alexander Csoma de Körös's analysis of the Tibetan Bkali-ligyur, published in the 20th volume of "Asiatic Researches," will be struck by the remarkable patience and perseverance of this exceptional scholar. The scope of his research, particularly in his analysis of the Dulva-roughly one-tenth of the entire Bkah-hgyur-is impressive. His work spans over 4000 leaves, each with seven lines of text, and each line averaging twenty-two syllables. Despite Csoma's monumental efforts to introduce Europe to the extensive Buddhist literature of Tibet, his work remains primarily an index of the Tibetan Tripitaka. At the time of his writing, Buddhist studies were still in their infancy, and many significant topics addressed by the Bkah-hgyur had not yet been explored by scholars, leaving their importance largely unrecognized.
Csoma's untimely death also meant that he was unable to fully investigate the Tibetan Bstan-hgyut, a collection containing many crucial texts that could clarify the complexities often encountered in the canonical Bkah-hgyur.
Introduction
ANY one who has glanced at the analysis of the Tibetan Bkah-hgyur by Alexander Csoma de Körös, published in the 20th volume of the "Asiatic Researches," must have been struck with the wonderful patience and perseverance of this extraordinary scholar. Some idea of the extent of the researches which are embodied in his analysis of the Dulva, about the tenth part of the whole Bkah-hgyur, may be had when it is known that it occupies more than 4000 leaves of seven lines to the page, each line averaging twenty-two syllables. But notwithstanding all that Csoma did to make known to Europe the vast Buddhist literature of Tibet, his work is hardly more than an index of the Tibetan Tripitaka. Moreover, when he wrote it, Buddhist studies were in their infancy, and many important subjects on which the Bkah-hgyur furnishes answers, which, if not always acceptable, are still plausible and interesting, had not been investigated by scholars, and their importance was as yet ignored.
