Gyan Publishing House Indian Pandits in the Land of Snow

by Sarat Chandra Das

This rare work has compiled with the help of a series of small essays written by the intrepid traveller and spy for the British Indian Survey of India Sarat Chandra Das. The essays area bench of eclectic offerings and they deal with various aspects of the origin and progress of the faith in Tibet. He experienced with his minute observation about the little known works of Indians and Aryans in the countries beyond the Himalayas during his sojourn in Tibet and he has little doubt the inquiring public will find much in them to think and ponder on. It is an undoubted fact that Buddhism found its way into Central and Eastern Asia, from Aryavarta (India); ages have elapsed since then; the almost insurmountable physical barriers which separated India and Central Asia, and want of intercourse and sympathy between these strange peoples and the Indians tended, in course of time, to obliterate the traces of the onward march of Buddhism from this country. There are short biographical notes on Kumara Jiva, Fahian, Bodhi Dharma, Hieun-Tsdang, Dipankara, Atisa etc. short notes on the origin of the Mahayana school, earliest notices of China and India in China, translation of sacred works into Chinese etc. The book was edited by the author’s brother Nobin Chandra Das. This book is a reprint of the 1893 edition.

Genres: History

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

Sarat Chandra Das (18 July 1849 – 5 January 1917) was an Indian scholar of Tibetan language and culture most noted for his two journeys to Tibet in 1879 and in 1881–1882.

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a unique account of Tibet in the end of 19th century along with stories about Indian pandits of the past based on Tibetan sources - many of which lost by now. Special accent is placed on Atisa story, narrated in such a vivid manner one feels having met him in person (three puppies collected by him on the way to Tibet are way too adorable to miss).

However, there is surely lack of editorial attention: text contains numerous typos and the order in which parts appear doesn't form a single clear picture. So maybe one more edition could fix that and thus add the text shine it deserves.