In the preface to The Vagrahhhediha, Max Muller made a critical observation regarding certain peculiarities of 'style' adopted in this treatise by the Buddhist philo Sophers who wished to convince their hearers of the truth of their philosophy. From the Sanscrit text, perhaps it is difficult to realise fully what Asvaghocha 1 described as the persuasiveness of Buddha's eloquence yet we may quite appreciate the academic instinct of Kumarajiva, whose work on The Diamond Sutra bears evidence of a laudable endeavour to produce a classic, which in the Chinese language is almost entirely beyond reproach.