Influence of Indian Languages on China, Korea and Japan

Compiled by Sanjeev Nayyar March 2002

While comparing notes on the Indian language essays with the book Cultural !istory o"
India by the #amakrishna Mission I came across an interesting chapter on the above
subject$ So "ar had only heard about it in the passing or some vague re"erences by people
but "or the "irst time got to read about it$ !ere is it "or you verbatim "rom the book$ What
you read are e%cerpts tried to make it comprehensive$ &he article is divided into three
chapters namely '
($ China$
2$ )orea$
*$ +apan$
China Chapter 1
Literature of Buddhism
,uddhist missionaries "rom India began their visits to China starting -. a$d$ &he "irst
Indian missionaries were )asyapa Matanga and /harmaraksa who translated a number
o" ,uddhist works into Chinese$ In the Wei period *0-1*.2 a$d$ it became the state
religion there$ &he visit o" 3a !ien to India and his stay in India "rom 20( to 2(0 a$d$ is a
matter o" great signi"icance in the history o" Sino1Indian cultural relations in general and
the growth o" ,uddhist literature in China in particular$ !e was the "irst authentic
translator o" the Mahasanghika 4inaya which he discovered in a monastery in 5atna and
carried to China$ Cultural contacts reached their hey day during the &ang period -(0 to
607 when ,uddhism made its deepest impact on the Chinese mind$ !iuen &sang and I1
tsing belonged to this period$ &he Chinese version o" the &ripitaka is in the main a
translation "rom the Indian original$ &he work o" translating Indian ,uddhist te%ts
continued throughout the "irst millennium$ ,y means o" translations and commentaries
the Chinese collection has preserved a number o" te%ts o" the vast Sanskrit cannon o"
,uddhism while the originals in Sanskrit were lost in India ' thanks to "oreign invasion$
Sutra, Sastra and Vinayaka
&he Chinese ,uddhist cannon "orms a huge collection$ It "ollows the broad pattern o" the
usual ,uddhist classi"ication namely '
($ Sutra or ,uddha1vacana or the Word o" ,uddha$
2$ 8bhidharma or the Sastra$
*$ 4inayaka or the Code o" Conduct and discipline that one has to "ollow in one9s
cultivation o" the ,uddhist way$
&he entire cannon "alls into two broad divisions ' !inayana and Mahayana$
Sutra Tets
&he sutras o" the !inayana consist o" the 8gamas which are the Sarvastivadins9s
collections o" ,uddhist teaching$ &he agamas "orm a small part o" the Chinese collection$
Some sutras are also grouped together as pen1yuan1ching a term that can be translated as
jatakas$ &he Chinese Sutra 5itaka also includes three di""erent translations o" the
:danavarga ;the /hammapada in 5ali< made as early as the third and "ourth centuries a$d$
&he !inayana sutras attracted little attention in China$
&he major sutras on Mahayana have "rom the beginning been a subject o" very wide
serious and sincere study in China$ &hese sutras are classi"ied into certain groups namely
5rajnaparamita Saddharmpundarika Nirvana and 4ai1pulya$
In the 5rajnaparamita group there are si% translations in Chinese while the
5ancavimsatisahasrika group has two$ =ne o" these is by )umarajiva "amous ,uddhist
scholar and guide ' early .
th
century$ !e translated most o" the early Madhyamika te%ts
attributed to Nagarjuna "amous Madhyamila philosopher$ &he biggest in this group is the
one translated by !iuen &sang$ &he central theme o" the 5rajnaparamita group is that the
undivided being as the :ltimate #eality and this is e%pounded through sunyata$
&he Saddharmpundarika 8vatamsaka and Nirvana sutras set "orth and emphasi>e
di""erent aspects o" the philosophy o" Mahayana$ ?ach o" these sutras provided the basic
inspiration as well as "oundation to a speci"ic school o" ,uddhism$ &he school that takes
the Saddharmpundarika school takes the name &ien1tai school to which the Nirvana sutra
is "undamental$ =ne o" the sections in the 8vatamsaka1sutra the section on the ten
bhumis ' levels e%pounds the levels in the course o" a bodhi1sattva9s way"aring$ &his
sutra has a commentary by 4asubandhu "amous philosopher o" 4ijnanavada$ 8lso the
@ogacara1bhumi1sastra translated by !iuen &sang provides the psychological analysis
and the details pertaining to the kinds and di""erent levels o" way"aring$ &he group called
4aipulya or the Wide Collection contains sutras o" the miscellaneous type$
Sastra or !"hidharma tets
In this case the term 8bhidharma ;8,< means analysis de"inition and classi"ication o"
elements as well as laying bare o" the various ways in which the elements "unction in
order to bring about events that constitute the world o" e%perience$ 8ll the seven 8, te%ts
o" the Sarvastivada School one o" the most important schools o" ,uddhism are
preserved in Chinese translations$ &he 8,1mahavibhasa1sastra is a great commentary on
the +nana1prasthana1sastra which was the basic te%t o" the Sarvastivada study o"
dharmas$ &his was the main work with the other si% being deemed supplementary to it$
&hey were translated into Chinese by !iuen &sang$
&he school o" ,uddhism that prevailed in China as the )osa school was later absorbed
into the 3a !siang School$ &he Madhyamika School is known as the ASchool o" &hree
&reatises9 namely the Madhyamika1sastra and the /vadasamukha1sastra o" Nagarjuna
and the Sata1sastra o" 8ryaveda$
,ased on these te%ts there came into being the #School of the $our Treatise which
emphasi>ed the positive side o" the teaching o" sunyata$ Bater it got absorbed into the
&ien1tai school$ 8mong the Mahayana te%ts in the Sastra class the 5rajnaparamita1sastra
and the @ogacara1bhumi1sastra are the most signi"icant and outstanding$ ,ut in the
Chinese collection there are a large number o" sastras o" Mahayana which are either
e%positions o" special topics like logic psychology and metaphysics are brie"
introductions to these systems$
Vinaya Tets
&he 4inaya class in the Chinese section is rich with enormous value$ We have 4inaya
te%ts o" "ive di""erent ,uddhist schools$ What the Chinese have belonged to the "irst "our
schools and were translated in the early .
th
century$ &hese te%ts were brought in order to
meet the growing need o" regulating the community li"e o" the Sangha and "or discipline
in the daily li"e o" its members$
Tantrayana or %antrayana Sutras
8round the eight1century a$d$ there are in the Chinese collection a number o" sutras that
together "orm the esoteric school o" ,uddhism known as &antrayana under the in"luence
o" !indu &antricism$ &he basic philosophy o" two groups o" sutras is that o" Mahayana$
=" the various mystic "orms only the 4ajrayana works are available in Chinese$
4ajrabodhi and his disciple 8moghavajra two Indian monks carried the works to China
and translated about (.0 o" them into Chinese between 7201722 a$d$ 8mongst others
there were two Indian monks /harmadeva and /anapal who rendered into Chinese
about 200 4ajrayana te%ts$ Many o" these works are in the "orm o" mantras dharanis and
sadhanas relating to deities o" the Mahayana pantheon$
&he vast literature preserved in Chinese consisting o" translations "rom the original Indian
,uddhist works in Sanskrit amply testi"y to the study o" Sanskrit during the "irst
millennium a$d$ Chinese&Sanskrit dictionaries were compiled$ 8lso that a variety or
derivative o" ,rahmi called Siddham, used in North India in the 710
th
centuries became
very popular in China ' due to its association with the Mantrayana school$ &his script
was used in China during the 01(0
th
centuries a$d$ "or writing Sanskrit mantras and
dharanis$ ,ricks in certain temples in @unnan ;China< bear magical "ormulas in the
Siddham script$ It appears that 5rakrit was also known in China in the early centuries o"
the Christian era and is supposed to have played an important role in the propagation o"
,uddhism in the country$
Secular Literature
&he introduction o" ,uddhism into China made the two countries get closer$ In the course
o" time the Chinese gained a "irst hand knowledge o" other aspects o" Indian culture such
as music maths astronomy astrology etc$ When we study the lists o" Indian books
translated into Chinese we reali>e that most o" the books translated deal with astronomy
and astrology and two most o" the books were translated by the ,uddhists during the Sui
;.0( '-0(< and &ang ;-(01607 a$d$ Indians maths was appreciated as a use"ul tool to
understand Indian astronomy$
8lthough Indian music painting and sculpture e%erted great Indian in"luence on the
corresponding aspects o" Chinese culture no re"erence is now available to Indian books
on music and Silpa1sastra being translated into Chinese$ In the .1-
th
centuries a$d$ the
Indians had attained a high degree o" development in astronomy so it was o" keen interest
to the Chinese$
!stronomy 1 &here are lots o" details on the Indian contribution shall share a
"ew aspects only$ &he annals o" the Sui dynasty completed by Wei Cheng in -*- a$d$
contains in its bibliographical catalogue the "ollowing Indian astronomical works almost
all beginning with the words 5o1lo1men ;,rahmin< &he ,rahmin 8stronomical Manual
&he 8stronomical &heories o" the ,rahman sage Chie1chie &he ,rahmin Calendrical
Methods$ &hese works must have circulated around -00 a$d$ but are all lost today$
,etween 7(0 and 7(6 Indian astronomer Siddhartha '(is&ta) who was president o" the
,ureau o" 8stronomy at the Chinese capital produced )9ai1yuan1chan1ching the greatest
collection o" Chinese astronomical and astrological "ragments "rom the 2
th
century
onwards$ Chapter CI4 o" this collection is virtually a translation "rom the Indian
calendar Navagraha1siddhanta$
&he )umara School contributed a method o" computation o" solar eclipses to the &a1yen
calendar 720 a$d$ &he in"luence o" Indian astronomy on this calendar is evident "rom its
introduction in the Indian "ashion o" nine planets namely the sun moon the "ive planets
and #ahu and )etu$ Said 8moghavajra who translated another ,uddhist astrological
work named !siu1yao1ching in 7.6 a$d$ C&hose who wish to know the position o" the "ive
planets adopt Indian calendrical methods$ =ne can this predict what hsui ;a planet will be
traversing<$ So we have three clans o" Indian calendar e%perts Chiayeh ;)asyapa<
Chutan ;Dautama< and Chumolo;)umara< all o" whom hold o""ice at the ,ureau o"
8stronomy$
%athematics 1 /ue to the development o" trigonometry Indian astronomy was
valued in China and Indians works on maths were translated into Chinese$ &he @in1te
Inde% no (0 mentions three books on maths all beginning with 5o1lo1men$ &hese books
were ,rahmin 8rithmetical #ules &he ,rahmin 8rithmetical Classics are two Indian
books that "ind mention in the annals o" the Sui dynasty$
%edicine 1 Chinese ,uddhist monks had "elt interest in the Indian medical
system "rom the .
th
century a$d$ &here is a work called Chih1ch9an1ping1pi1yao1"ang by a
Chinese noble converted to ,uddhism Ching Sheng$ &ranslated in 2.. a$d$ this is a
compilation "rom di""erent te%ts o" Indian origin$ 8lso the @in1te Inde% no (0 mentions
Indian books on pharmaceutics$ &he Sanskrit work #avana1kumara &antra deals with the
method o" treatment o" children9s diseases as well as "umigation was translated into
Chinese in the ((
th
century a$d$
K*+,! Chapter -
,uddhism was introduced by Indian ,uddhists into China in -. a$d$$ Dradually a Chinese
"orm o" ,uddhism with its won peculiar special "eatures came into e%istence and thus a
new sphere o" ,uddhist culture emerged in east 8sia covering )orea and +apan with its
center as China$ 8lthough ,uddhism thus disseminated was almost Chinese in character
there were some Indian acharyas who played a signi"icant role in spreading ,uddhism
and its literature to these two countries directly "rom India$
)orea9s knowledge o" Indian ,uddhist literature was colored mainly by Chinese versions
o" Indian te%ts a study o" )orean literature enables one to known the Indian in"luence$
:n"ortunately )orea had no national script because o" which there was no growth o" any
literature there in the early centuries o" the Christian era$
&he country was divided into three kingdoms )oguryo 5aikje and Silla$ &hey "lourished
side by side between *(* to --0 a$d$ &he "irst )oguryo was closest to China adopted
,uddhism in *72 a$d$ In *72 the "irst Indian monk 8hdo came to )orea and in *02 the
religion spread to 5aikje$ In .20 the then Chinese emperor o" the Biang dynasty at the
reEuest o" the king o" 5aikje sent teachers and sacred scriptures o" the ,uddhists$ 8 local
monk )yumik brought "rom India sacred ,uddhist te%ts relating to 4inaya and translated
them into Chinese$ 8 third Indian monk named Mukhoja visited in 2(7 a$d$ visited Silla$
/uring the reign o" )ing Wang (*(*1*0 another Indian mink named +igong came to
)orea$ I&chang a Korean scholar came to India in ./0 and stayed at 1alanda "or
about a decade studying Indian scriptures$ &hen he traveled all over India and collected
Sanskrit te%ts$ When he returned to )orea in -6. a$d$ he brought with him as many as
200 Sanskrit te%ts$
Influence of Sanskrit on the first Korean Sanskrit
&he introduction o" ,uddhism necessitated the study o" ,uddhist scriptures in 5ali and
Sanskrit and also the writing o" te%ts and annotations in native )orean$ ,ut the native
language had no script$ &he Chinese system o" writing could not serve the purpose o" the
national script$ In (22- )ing Sejong o" the @i dynasty (*621(6(0 developed a script "or
)orean called !anggul$ It was the "irst )orean system o" writing and many ,uddhist
scriptures were published in that script$ Some scholars are o" the opinion that the
!anggul script consisting o" 20 letters was adapted "rom Sanskrit$ It may be mentioned
here that the study o" Sanskrit characters known as Siddham had also been introduced in
)orea and the use o" this script is still in vogue in the land "or writing Sanskrit$
2u"lication of Buddhist Scriptures
&he printing o" /aejang1gyung ;,uddhist scriptures which were originally written in
Sanskrit and translated into Chinese and Mongolian< was the greatest achievement o" the
)oryo dynasty$ &his corpus o" scriptures was based on the Chinese edition brought to
)orea by Mukhwa in 60( a$d$ &he printing was started during (0(01*($
8 ,uddhist monk named :ichun brought "rom China in (00- some *000 commentaries
on ,uddhist scriptures$ &hese were preserved in the !ungchunsa temple and (0(0 copies
o" 2720 volumes were printed in (06-$ :n"ortunately the Mongolian hordes destroyed
them in (2*2$ =nly a "ew volumes survived$ &he /aejang1gyung te%ts were reprinted in
(2*- (.(( copies o" -76( volumes o" the sacred scriptures printed "rom 0(-.0 blocks$
&he blocks have come to be known as A?ighty &housand9 and are now preserved in the
!awinsa temple$
&here was a strong ,uddhist in"luence on )orean literature$ Some o" the poems show the
in"luence o" ,uddhist philosophy and metaphysics and it appears they were composed
by ,uddhist monks$ ;.76 to 07- a$d$<$ In the (.
th
century an important work )umo
Sinhwa was written$ It contained "ive independent stories o" which one is titled
Manboksa Chap9o )i ;Dame with ,uddha<$ Indian tales and "ables also went to )orea
and made a great impact there$ )orean "olk songs were in"luenced by Indian tunes$ Styles
and principles o" Indian art and architecture also e%ercised a great in"luence in )orea$
J!2!1 Chapter 0
,uddhism was o""icially introduced into +apan "rom )orea in ..2 a$d$ when an image o"
,uddha and some copies o" ,uddhist scriptures were brought to the +apanese court by a
representative o" the )orean king o" 5aikje$
Study of Sanskrit Buddhist Scriptures
&he study o" Sanskrit ,uddhist scriptures became Euite e%tensive in +apan since the last
decade o" the -
th
century and was an important part o" +apanese cultural li"e$ &he "ind o"
ancient Sanskrit manuscripts in old ,rahmi characters preserved intact in !oryuji the
most ancient monastery e%tant in +apan and some other monasteries is a pertinent point$
In "act the manuscripts are older than what we have in India i$e$ -
th
century as compared
to (0
th
century in India$ &he patronage o" ?mpress Suiko .621-20 to ,uddhism was a
"actor o" great signi"icance so "ar as the spread o" the /harma and the study o" Sanskrit
,uddhist scriptures are concerned$
It is said that /osho 700 a$d$ went to China to study 4ijnaptimatrata i$e$ ,uddhist
idealism as well as the ,uddhist system o" logic under !iuen &sang$ !e returned to +apan
in --( and began to teach ,uddhist logic "rom the Denkoji temple$ &here were others too
who went to China to study ,uddhist logic returned to +apan and started teaching locals$
&he scope o" studying ,uddhist scriptures was e%panded during the Nara period as it
included the study o" 4inaya as well as the 8bhidharmakosa o" 4asubandhu the
Satyasiddhi o" !arivarman the works o" Nagarjuna and 8ryadeva besides works on
,uddhist idealism like /harmapala9s 4ijnaptimatratasiddhi and the 8vatamsaka$ &hese
have been designated as the ASi% Schools o" 8ncient Capital9$ &he "irst three belong to
the !inayana school and the last three to the Mahayana$
Bodhisena a great ,uddhist "rom India visited +apan in 7*- on a special invitation "rom
?mperor Shomu used to teach Sanskrit and the !ua1yen ;Dandavyuha1Sutra< in di""erent
monasteries o" +apan$ 8nother scholar /harmabodhi is said to have visited +apan in the
"irst hal" o" the 7
th
century$ &he visits o" these two men throw light on Indo1+apanese
cultural relations in the "irst millennium a"ter Christ$
In addition to important ,uddhists te%ts like ,hadracarinama 8rya1Samanta were studied
the Sanskrit dharannis stotras gathas and grammars$ Sanskrit studies received a great
impetus "rom +ogan who was a great Sanskritist himsel"$ !e wrote a book Shittan1
sanmitsu that is an authoritative te%t on Sanskrit studies in Japan3
Japanese !lpha"ets India4s Contri"ution
+apanese like )orean also su""ered "rom the handicap o" not having a national script "or
the "irst "ew centuries o" the Christian era$ &he Chinese language and its written
characters had obtained vogue in the land particularly among the o""icial class$ &he
e%tant o" chronicles o" +apan covering the period -0- to 702 and the "irst great anthology
o" +apanese poetry Manyoshu 7-0 a$d$ were written in Chinese$ ,ut Chinese was unsuited
"or the +apanese language as the latter was phonetic while the "ormer was ideographic$
&he +apanese language like Sanskrit is in"lectional$ Its rules governing synta%
morphology phonology and semantic structure "ollow a pattern o" its own$ &he "orty1
seven letters o" the +apanese alphabet are said to have been devised by the +apanese
,uddhist saint )obo /aishi 77210*. a"ter the Sanskrit alphabet$ The arrangement of
the Japanese sylla"ary "ased on the Sanskrit system is also attri"uted to the
influence of Bodshisena in Japan, which according to #iri Nakayama Awill continue as
long as the +apanese language continues to e%ist9$ It has been pointed out that the old
+apanese song AIroha1uta9 which contains all the 27 +apanese letters is a liberal
translation o" a Sanskrit ,uddhist hymn in the Mahaparinirvana1Sutra$ &he Indian script
known as Siddham called !is1t9an in Chinese and Shittan in +apanese gained currency in
+apan "or writing Sanskrit "rom the 0
th
century$ It was introduced by )obo who was
responsible "or bringing Mantrayana ,uddhism "rom China to +apan$
Some details o" the Siddham script have been preserved in ,onji1shittanjimo1narabi1ni1
shaku1gi a te%t written by )obo$ &he title o" the te%t signi"ies ASanskrit and Siddham
scripts and the e%planation o" their designations9$ It describes the origins o" the Indian
scripts the e%planation o" di""erent dharanis$ More important than )obo9s work was the
te%t Shittan&5o ;Siddham #atnakara< written by 8n1nen in 000 a$d$ &he work narrates at
the beginning what is known "rom the original Chinese sources about Sanskrit and the
Siddham script$ &he author e%amines the transliteration o" Sanskrit words in Chinese
characters and compares the phonetic value o" both$ Bastly he discussed all the letters o"
the Siddham script$ ?ach o" the letters o" this script is deemed to be a bija and identi"ied
with a deity$
Indian Influence on Japanese Stories
8 considerable portion o" the cosmogonical and mythological literature o" +apan bears
traces o" Indian in"luence$ !ajime Nakamura observed A Some stories o" ancient India
were very in"luential in shaping +apanese stories by providing them with materials$ In the
process o" shaping however Indian materials were greatly modi"ied and adapted in such
a way as would appeal to the mentality o" common people o" +apan in general9 Euoted
"rom Bokesh Chandra and others ' India9s Contribution to World &hought and Culture$
5ost Wheeler also said AMany "ragments o" the +apanese myth1mass were unmistakably
Indian$ &he original homeland o" the "irst man and women o" +apanese mythology is said
to have been in the ?arth1#esidence15illar i$e$ Mount Meru o" Indian mythology$ &here is
another story o" ,uro1no1)ami whose identity has been established with the deity called
,rave1Swi"t1Impetuous1male$ &his )ami may be none other than the Indian deity
Davagriva the =%1head deity$ &he story recounts in the style o" the jatakas how the deity
punished the heartless rich brother and rewarded the king hearted poor brother$ In India
one o" the names o" the moon is Sasanka ;lit$ having a rabbit in the lap< and there is an
ancient Indian legend why it is so called$ &he belie" prevalent in ancient +apan that there
lived a rabbit in the moon was probably an outcome o" the Indian in"luence$
&he story o" the monkey and the crocodile mentioned in the +ataka appears in a slightly
modi"ied "orm in Sasekishu a medieval +apanese collection o" popular stories$ &he story
is re"erred to in a work by Nichiren (222102 a$d$ and also in )onjaku1monogatari$
8nother 5uranic story o" the sage #syarnga is likely to have reach +apan in the trail o"
,uddhist legends$ 8 "amous medieval +apanese drama Narukami has been based on this
story$
&hese instances clearly illustrate the nature and e%tent o" Indian in"luences on +apanese
stories$
Indian Influence on Japanese Classical 6orks
+apanese classical works also reveal a great deal o" Indian in"luence both ,uddhist and
,rahmanical$
&he works o" some important poets o" the "irst phase o" classical +apanese literature
e%tending "rom 702 to ((00 show considerable ,uddhist in"luence$ &he greatest work o"
+apanese literature namely &he &ale o" Denji shows ,uddhist in"luence too$ /uring the
second phase "rom ((00 to (22( some o" the works bear ,uddhist thought due to the
e""orts o" the ,uddhist sects to bring the religion closer to the common man$ Shinram
((7.1(2-2 wrote many articles like &annisho in easy +apanese "or the comprehension o"
his rustic "ollowers laying stress on the veneration 8mitabha ,uddha$ &he work o" /ogen
(2001(2.* gave regular discourses on ,uddhism his te%ts Sho1bo1gen1>o is recogni>ed
as authoritative te%ts on the essence o" the &rue /octrine in +apan$
&he last phase o" +apanese Classical literature was "rom (22( to (.00$ 8 poetess o" this
age was Chikako (*00 a$d$ some o" whose writings e%hibit the in"luence o" Fen
,uddhism$
+apanese literature is also replete with instances o" the in"luence o" the Indian &heory o"
)arma and the transmigration o" the soul$ 8lthough ,uddhist deities like ,uddha
Maitreya 8mitabha and 4airocana predominate +apanese literatureG !indu gods are also
Euite well known$
7od Indian 1ame Japanese 1ame
($ Seagod 4aruna Suiten
2$ )ing o" Dods Indira &aishakuten
*$ Dod o" Success Danesha Shoten
2$ Dod o" Wealth )uvera ,ishamon
.$ Doddess o" Bearning Sarasvati ,enten
-$ Doddess o" 3ortune Baksmi )ichijoten
7$ Mahesh Shiva /aikoku
0$ /ivine 8rchitect 4isvakarman ,ishukatsuma
In the annals o" the &odaji temple it has been stated that the 8orship of Saras9ati and
Laksmi 8as first introduced in /-- a3d3 and continued down the centuries$ In ,essom
Fakki ;/escription o" Dods< written in the (2
th
century written in the Siddham script a
corrupt Sanskrit mantra readsH ASarasvatai svaha namo sarasvatyai mahadevyai svaha
namo bhagavati mahadevi sarasvati sidhyatu mantrapadami svaha9$ 8 description o"
Sarasvati occurs in the voluminous te%t 8sabasho by Shocho (20.102 and the rituals
connected with her worship have been recorded by #yoson (276 to (*26 in Chapter
CIBII o" his ,yaku1hokku1sho ;&he White +ewel o" Indian &radition<$ &he adoption o"
these !indu deities into the ,uddhist and Shintonist pantheons o" +apan indicate the
in"luence o" India on +apanese religions as well as the syncretic character o" the religious
systems o" +apan$
&he survey made above reveals the immense contribution o" India to the theology o"
+apanese ,uddhism as well as to +apanese literature$ &he present indications are that the
te%ts utili>ed were all written in Sanskrit probably in the Siddham script and there was
no intrusion o" 5ali unlike in the ,uddhist countries o" South1?ast 8sia$
Shintoism has been designated by some scholars as the +apanese version o" !induism '
Chaman Bal$
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