Note: preprint of a paper going to appear in the 2nd volume of the IIGRS proceedings.
The [1] Bodhicaryāvatāra (henceforth "Bca") is the "passover (avatāra, ~ introduction) into the course (caryā) of enlightment (bodhi)", which would mean "introduction into the course that leads to enlightment" [2]. The text [3] is very popular among Buddhists, was translated several times [4], and is well known and much published on by Mahāyāna scholars and teachers. In his work the Buddhist monk and Nālandā scholar Śāntideva exposes the transformation of the person leading through the stages of development of the Bodhisattva according to the teachings and from an insight point of view. In the beginning the text deals with the Bodhicitta, the "thought of awakening", which is to be raised and then to be attended by the adept. The author then goes on thematizing the stages of the "sixfold perfections" (ṣaṭpāramitā) [5] while as a climax he reveals the higher truth of the real nature of things being "empty" (śunya) in the prajñāpāramitā chapter, which makes the work clearly belonging to the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy [6]. The work is beautiful classical Sanskrit poetry, and even if it might not participate in being of a higher stage of poetical technique like other kāvyas, it is truly a sophisticated and remarkable piece of Buddhist literature. Furthermore, it is an important text for the understanding of the relation between Madhyamaka teachings and the Bodhisattva ideal, and to see what is the philosophical resp. metaphysical foundations of this figure’s behaviour.
[1] Thanks to Gérard Colas, Dragomir Dimitrov, Michael Hahn, Andrey Klebanov, Shanker Thapa, Christophe Vielle, and Peter Wyzlic for help and valueable pointers, as much as to all people who gave me precious scans of sometimes only barely available material.
[2] In Tibetan the title "Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra" (byaṅ chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ‘jug pa – sometimes refered to as "Bsa" or "B(s)ca") appears next to "Bodhicaryāvatāra" (byaṅ chub kyi spyod pa la ‘jug pa). This has been claimed as being the original title of the poem: "Moreover it is more important, the full title of the poem is Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra (rather than the abbrivated form Bodhicaryāvatāra). This form is also supported by the Mongolian […] Obviously, our poem is not an introduction to the life of bodhi, but to the career of a bodhisattva. The source of the abbreviated title is probably the author himself" (Lindtner 1998, p. 239). But, that the longer title is to be found in the Mongolian is no argument, because it has been worked out by Weller in 1950 that it depends on the Tibetan, where it seems the longer title originates for a reason not yet been shown.
[3] In contrast its shorter, most probably earlier version, which has been survived in its paracanonical Tibetan translation and consists of 701.5 verses and 9 chapters including the pariṇāmanā, the Sanskrit "vulgate" counts 913 verses, cf. Saito 1993 and Dietz 1999 for details.
[4] On the translations, cf. Gómez 1999, p. 330 sq.
[5] In difference to for example Candrakīrti, who represents the daśapāramitā system with the Mādhyamakāvatāra. That system adds upāyakauśalya, praṇidhāna, bala and jñāna to dāna (5,9-10 in the Bca), śīlā (5,11 sq.), kṣānti (chapter 6), vīrya (chapter 7), dhyāna (chapter 8), and prajñāpāramitā (chapter 9). On the systems, cf. Eimer 2006, p. 107 sq.
[6] Cf. Seyfort Ruegg 1981, p. 82 sq., and Saito 1996.
The hitherto regarded manuscripts [7]
The vulgate of the Bca was edited several times independently and in combination with Prajñākaramati’s Bca-pañjikā:
[7] An earlier attempt to trace which manuscripts might have been regarded for the editions is Pezzali 1968, p. 50 sq. Bibliographical information on this issue has also be collected by Richard Mahoney, available as BibTeX file on his homepage.
Minaev 1889
The first edition of the mūla was created by Ivan Pavlovič Minaev (1840-90) [8] in the year 1889 for the "Memories of the Eastern Section of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society" [9]. In the short introduction of this contribution, Minaev gives some information about three manuscripts which were available to him. Two he got borrowed from London, the first one (L¹) from the India Office:
"7713. 2927. Foll. 1-25, 28-40, 42-55; palm leaf; size 12½ in. by 1¾ in.; Nepālī ornamental (Rañjā or Lantshā) character, very clear and regular, of A.D. 1399?; five lines in a page. […] The colophon is: samāptoyaṃ bodhicaryāvatāraḥ. kṛtir ācāryaśāntidevasya maṃjughoṣaprā (sic) sādāditi. On the outer side of fol. 1 we find […] damma (sic for dharma) 9 samvat 519 mārggaśiraśuddhi. Thus the date of completition may be Mārgaśiras in Nepal saṃvat 519 = A.D. 1399, or earlier. [B.H. Hodgson]" [10]
The second one (L²) he got from the Royal Asiatic Society:
"13. Bodhicaryâvatâra. In ten parichchhedas. 47 palm leaves. 12½ in. by 1¾ in. Five lines in a page. Old. The shape of the figures and some letter is very peculiar" [11]
The third manuscript which he had for his disposal (M) was of private property [12].
[8] For biographical and bibliographical information, cf. Schneider 1934 and Bongard-Levin/Vigasin 1984, p. 82 sq.
[9] It’s a cute little bibliographical anecdote that Schneider’s arbitrary key "MOSIRAS" appears later without solution in Conze 1982, p. 95 (35:1).
[10] Keith 1935, p. 1394. The supplement by F.W. Thomas lists the 30 pieces, which have been donated by Hodgson in the years 1838-45, cf. Waterhouse 2004, p. 249.
[11] Cowell/Eggeling 1876, p. 13. This catalogue lists 79 items, which have been donated by Hodgson in the years 1835-36, cf. p. 1.
[12] This piece got into the public library of St. Petersburg after the editor’s death, cf. Mironov 1918, p. 261 sq. (no. 281). It’s a Nepalese paper manuscript consisting of 28 fols, a lacuna between fols. 3 and 6 was filled up with ones written by another hand. Minaev given the information that the text generally agrees with L². Saṃvat 721 or 821 could be found in the colophon, which would result in A.D. 1671/70 resp. 1771/70 as completition year (nepālikasaṃvat starts October 20th 879 A.D., cf. Lienhard/Manandhar 1988, p. XXVIII).
Śāstrī 1894
The second time the text was edited by Haraprasāda Śāstrī (1853-1931) [13] in 1894. Unfortunately, no information about the regarded material is given in this contribution. But fortunately, in an article on Śāntideva from 1913 Śāstrī mentions a palm leaf manuscript in the Hodgson Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in the context of that edition [14]. Rājendralāl Mitra’s catalogue of the Hodgson donations to the Asiatic Society from 1882 lists a palm leaf manuscript of the Bca, and so it could be supposed that this really is the piece, which Śāstrī refers to:
"Old No. 815. – New No. B. 42. […] Substance, palm-leaves, 11×12½. Folia 48. Lines on a page, 6. Extent in s’lokas 1,100. Character, Newárí. Date ? Appearance, old and smudgy. Verse. Generally correct" [15]
[13] See Law 1933 for orbituary including a bibliography.
[14] Śāstrī 1913, p. 49: "Then it was published in the Journal of the Buddhist Text Society by me. I had the advantage of collating a beautiful palm-leaf manuscript belonging to the Hodge[!]son Collection; in the Library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal."
[15] Mitra 1882, p. 47. These Hodgson donations appear again in Kāvyatīrtha 1904, p. 243 sq. (B. 42 on p. 251).
La Vallée Poussin 1898 and 1901-14
Three manuscripts of Prajñākaramati’s commentary on the Bca are recorded in the catalogue of the Government Collection of Sanskrit manuscripts in the stocks of the Asiatic Society of Bengal [16]:
"49. 3830. bodhicaryyāvatāra pañjikā […] Substance, palm-leaf. Character, Newari. Date, N.S. 198=1078 A.D. In good state of preservation. With the first leaf and 26 others missing. Colophon: – bodhicaryyāvatāre prajñāpāramitāparicchedaṭīkā samāptā. kṛtiriyaṃ paṇditabhikṣuprajñākarapādānāṃ" [17]
"50. 9979. bodhicaryyāvatāra. Bodhicaryāvatāra and the Pañjikā commentary […] Four seasoned palm-leaves. 20×2. Written in old Newari Character. I. Bodhicaryāvatāra with six lines on a page, faded, containing the colophon: – bodhicaryyāvatāre dhyānapāramitā ‘ṣṭamaḥ paricchedaḥ. II. Two leaves with five lines on a page – one is marked on the left-hand side aṣa 9 = 127 – the other without leaf mark contains the colophon bodhicaryyāvaṭarapañjikāyāṃ dhyānapāramitāparicchedo ‘aṣṭamaḥ"
"51. 3829. bodhicaryyavatāraṭīkā […] Substance, palm-leaf, 12×2 inches. Folio, 109. Lines, 6 on a page. Extent in slokas, 2725. Character, Bengali of the 12th century. Appearance, fresh but worm-eaten in places. Complete. Written in a neat and small hand. Colophon: bodhicaryyāvatāre prajñāpāramitāparicchedaṭīkā samāptā. kṛtiriyaṃ paṇḍitabhikṣuprajñākaramatipādānām"
The Bca-Ṭīkā is the ninth chapter of Prajñākaramati’s commentary which appears transmitted independently, like it was edited by Louis de La Vallée Poussin (1869-1938) [18] already in 1898 [19]. Later, in the years 1901-14 the Belgian scholar edited again the whole survived commentary next to the mūla in seven volumes for the Bibliotheca Indica series [20]. However, the Bca-Pañjikā manuscripts of the Asiatic Society are in the earlier contributions refered to as being only two pieces: Śāstrī in 1895 describes again a Nepalese manuscript from 1078 A.D. ending with the ninth chapter of the commentary, this time next to another one of the ninth chapter only, written in Maithili script (cf. p. 7), The same two pieces could be found refered to as regarded manuscripts in La Vallée Poussin’s edition from 1898 (cf. p. 233), and also in the larger one from 1901-14 (cf. p. I). Actually, the records in the catalogue from 1917 are a rather problematic: no. 51 – probably acquired between 1893 and 95 – is without doubt the piece written in Old Bengali and carrying the ninth chapter of the commentary, thus a Bca-Ṭīkā, like it is given in the colophon [21]. But instead of a manuscript – being also designated as Bca-Ṭīkā in the colophon – carrying the whole of Prajñakaramati’s commentary it’s more likely that no. 49 is another instance of the singled Prajñāpāramitā, which was kept next to no. 51 carrying the Bca-Pañjikā up to chapter eight of the Bca, like it could be found in the colophon of that item. Considering the lacunae in La Vallée Poussin’s edition (3,22 – 4,45 & 8,109 – 186) it is not probable that there is another instance of that text, and so it could be supposed that what has been considered to be a single manuscript all the time carrying the whole commentary up to chapter nine, after closer examination came up to be two pieces which had to be distinguished, and this resulted in three items in the catalogue of 1917 – although not described correctly [22].
In the Bibliotheca Indica edition, La Vallée Poussin also gives the information that for the mūla he also made use of Minaev’s edition together with two manuscripts from Paris, refered to as "Devanāgari 78" and "Burnouf 98". Even if this does not match exactly, these items are presumably these two described by Filliozat in 1941 [23]:
"78. BODHICARYĀVATĀRA par Çāntideva. Marges, verso à droite: guruḥ, à gauche: bo. va. Début: namaḥ sarvabuddhabodhisatvebhyaḥ || sugatān sasutān … Colophon, fol. 56 l. 3: iti bodhicaryāvatāra pariṇāmaparicchedo daçamaḥ || çubham astu jagatḥ || samāptā bodhicaryāvatāraparikathā kṛtir iyam ācāryaçrīçāṃtidevapādānām iti || çreyo stu jagataḥ sadā || çubham astu sarvadākālaṃ || namo buddhadharmasaghāya. […] Vol. relié, 56 fol. recto blanc, verso jaune, 265×108 mm., 7 l. – Devanāgarī. Vers 1836. – Prov. Népal. Coll. Hodgson. Don Soc As. 1840 – Anc. cote: S. dév 85"
"79. BODCHICARYĀVATĀRA par Çāntideva. Fol. 1ᵃ sur papier collé: titre et nombre de fol. en devanāgarī et hindoustani. Début fol. 1ᵇ: namo ratnatrayāya. sugatān sasutān … 1 ligne ajoutée audessus: namāmi buddhān … Colophon, comme 78: … daçamaḥ samāptaḥ. ye dharmmā … bhadram astu sarvvajagatā || çubhaṃ || […] 1 vol. relié, 55 fol. recto bis, verso jaune, 260×80 mm., 7 l. – Ecriture népalie. Dernière feuille: écriture grossière. S.d. (fin du XVIIIᵉ ou début du XIXᵉ siècle). – Prov.: Népal. Coll. Hodgson-Burnouf. – Anc. cote: Burnouf 90"
[16] Śāstrī 1917, p. 49 sq. Cf. Chakravarti 1959-60, p. 664, and Kimura’s article on that collection (cf. Yuyama 1992, p. 7).
[17] It is noted in the catalogue that this pieces was still lended to La Vallée Poussin and the record had to be taken from Śāstrī 1893, where the whole transcript of fol. 213 up to the end could be found, cf. p. 246 sq. The colophon gives the information that this copy has been written in the Rāghavavihāra in Patan (lalitapure) during the reign of Śāṅkaradeva. The given date of completition has been verified as Tuesday 31st of June 1078 A.D. (cf. Petech 1984, p. 47), which is a fairly advanced age for a palm-leaf manuscript.
[18] On La Vallée Poussin, cf. Vielle 2010.
[19] Vaidya’s hypothesis that the Bca-Ṭīkā – which employs own invocation and closing verses – has been composed before as a single text (1960, p. IX: "I, therefore, feel on sure grounds that Prajñākaramati first wrote his commentary on the 9th chapter, and added the same to first eight chapters at a later date") is quite tempting, because that would provide an explanation why Prajñākaramati hasn’t commented upon the Pariṇāmanā.
[20] Cf. Sieg 1908, p. 12, and Nobel 1928, p. 5.
[21] "Bengali of the 12th century" would cover what has been designated as Maithili before, it is likely that script which Roth called "Proto-Bengali-cum-Proto-Maithili", cf. Dimitrov 2002, p. 32 sq.
[22] It’s really a pity that the colophon of no. 50 – given the fact that the 2nd lacuna extends to the end of that chapter – has probably not yet survived completely, nor we do have detailed information by La Vallée Poussin (the Bibliotheca Indica edition was planned to contain another volume with reconstructions and an exhaustive survey of the regarded material, cf. Vaidya 1960, p. VII). It really seems that we don’t even have a complete commentary on the chapters one up to number nine of the Bca in Sanskrit being called Bca-Pañjikā. Catalogues that are so good for deeper inquiries that an autopsy is unneccesary – even more needed when there are no digitial scans provided through the internet – are unfortunately rather exceptions.
[23] Cf. p. 63 sq. Both items could be found already in the earlier catalogue assembled by Cabaton in 1907, cf. p. 11. No. 78 belonged to a bunch of transcripts which were sended in 1837 to the Société asiatique by Hodgson (cf. the list from 1837, where a Bca of 56 fols. could be found on p. 296), later it got into the library already in 1840. The title Bca-parikathā appears a few times among the Bca manuscripts, cf. below, Tokyo 261 and NAK 3/257. No. 79 was originally given to Eugène Burnouf (1801-1852). Although it could be found in the auction catalogue (cf. Burnouf 1854, p. 332, no. 90), this item wasn’t sold in the auction of 1854 (cf. Yuyama 2000, p. 5 sq.), but already in 1852 to what has been the Bibliotheque Impériale (cf. Colas 1986, p. 285).
Bhattacharya and Vaidya 1960
In they year 1960 Vidhushekhara Bhattacarya edited the mūla next to its Tibetan translation again for the Bibliotheca Indica, and in the same year Paraśurām Lakṣman Vaidya (1891-1978) [24] edited again the Pañjikā together with the Bca for the Buddhist Sanskrit Text series. Although broadly used in Indo-Tibetology, the Sanskrit text of Bhattacarya’s edition is rather problematic [25], but Vaidya’s work adequately represents the survived original Sanskrit text of Śāntideva’s work as it is quite readable and complete [26]. Both editors, Bhattacharya and Vaidya couldn’t consider further material, so it is clear that these editions predominantly assemble their text from the editions which have been published before. That’s also true for the bulk of the partially recent Indian editions which are to be considered as mere reprints.
[25] Mukopadhyaya 1961, p. 287: "The late lamented Vidhushekhara Bhattacharya had barely completed his edition when death snatched him away from us. He had no time to revise it. […] In such circumstances, as in natural, some mistakes have crept in."
[26] In the first two chapters there are only two metrical defects to be found (1,2 is a Mālabhārinī with defect in b, and 1,35 seems to be completely damaged).
Summary
To characterize the whole group of regarded manuscripts, except for the palm leaf manuscripts belonging to the Government Collection of the Asiatic Societys of Bengal, the most of the manuscripts which have been edited editions are ones which have been acquired by Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801-1894) in Nepal [27]. Hodgson begun collecting manuscripts already at his first stay as Assistant Court Resident in Nepal at the beginning of the 1820s, and during his second stay in 1824-43 he carried on acquiring manuscripts and transcriptions employing the Paṇḍit Amṛtānanda and a team of scribes [28]. All of these items got to several libraries and some to private scholars in Europa and India [29]. Among the Hodgson manuscripts there are also transcripts, but among the regarded Bca manuscripts it seems that only Paris 78 is a transcript, and that the others are original ones.
[27] Nepal is a rich storehouse for Sanskrit manuscripts because: "Die speziellen klimatischen Gegebenheiten dieses Himalaya-Landes sind überdies von solcher Art, daß dort mehr alte Handschriften den Unbilden der Zeit getrotzt haben als in irgendeiner anderen Region des Subkontinentes" (Wezler 1986, p. 3).
[28] For a biographical sketch cf. Waterhouse 2004, p. 1-24.
[29] Cf. Hunter 1881 and Waterhouse 2004, p. 249 sq.
Unregarded manuscripts, original pieces [30]
[30] Compare with Tsukamato/Matsunaga/Isoda 1990, p. 255 sq.
Cambridge
A paper manuscript of the Bca mūla, written in Devanagari is kept in the University Library in Cambridge:
"Add. 869. Paper; 66 leaves, 7 lines, 10¼×4½ in.; modern, ordinary Devanāgari hand. BODHICARYĀVATĀRA. This is the ninth section of the Açokāvadāna-mālā (see MS. Add. 1482)" [31]
[31] Bendall 1883, p. 6. The manuscripts in this collection were procured by Daniel Wright, who was surgeon at the British Residency in Nepal, from 1873 to 1876, cf. p. VII. A brief listing of his donations could be found in Wright 1877, p. 316 sq., cf. also Weber 1877, p. 526 sq.
Kolkata
There is another old palm-leaf manuscript written in Bengali listed in the catalogue of the Government Collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, nevertheless – as far as I can tell – it couldn’t be found stated nowhere that its text has flown into the previous editions:
"19. 8067. bodhicaryyāvatāra. […] Substance, palm-leaf. 12½×1½ inches. Folia, 66. Lines, 4, 5 on a page. The 60th and the 62nd leaves are missing. Character, Bengali. Copied in Saṃvat 1492 = 1436 A.D. Appearance, old, discoloared and worn-out" [32]
[32] Śāstrī 1917, p. 21. On that piece see Dimitrov 2002, p. 36, fn. 36.
Kyōto
The Kyōto University owns two other pieces [33]:
"No. 72 (E 260) 66 leaves (last fol. numbered, wrongly, ’67′), 6 lines, 25.7×8.3 cm, ‘Saṃvat 1027′ = c. 1907 A.D."
"No. 73 (E 261) 60 leaves, 6 lines, 27.9×5.8cm […] 10 Pariccheda-s, both complete"
[33] Goshima/Noguchi 1993, p. 20. This collection was assembled by Ryōzaburō Sakaki (1872-1946) in Nepal, cf. p. I sq.
Tōkyō
The Tōkyō University Library owns five more pieces [34]:
"No. 260 (1) Bodhi-caryā-’vatāra. (2) Paper, 46 leaves, 6 lines, 13½×3 inch., Nepalese character […] The pagination of 23 is missed out. (3) (47b2) iti bodhicaryyāvatāre pariṇāmanāḥ daśamaḥ palīcchedaḥ || samāptaḥ ||"
"No. 261 (1) Bodhi-caryā-’vatāra. (2) Paper, 70 leaves, 7 lines, 10½×4¾ inch. Devanāgarī, modern […] (3) (70b6) iti bodhi-caryā’-vatāre pariṇāmanā-parichedo daśamaḥ samāpto ‘yaṃ bodhi-caryā-’vatāra-parikathā śubhaṃ bhūyāt sarva-jagatām ||"
"No. 262 (1) Bodhi-caryā-’vatāra (Two fragments of the °). (2) Palm leaf, (I) 17 leaves, (II) 43 leaves, number of lines variable, 10×2¼ inch.; (I) Siddhānta, (II) Nepalese character"
"No. 263 (1) Bodhi-caryā-’vatāra [only the beginning]. (2) Paper, 13 leaves, 6 lines, 12×2½ inch., Nepalese character […] (3) (12a1) || bodhicaryāvatare bodhicittāpramādo nāma caturthaḥ paricchedaḥ ||"
"No. 264 (1) Bodhi-caryā-’vatāra. (2) Palm-leaf, 60 leaves, 5 lines, 10¼x2 inch., Siddhānta like Kuṭila"
[34] Matsunami 1965, p. 97 sq. The chapter distribution of the pieces could be found on p. 352. This collection was gathered by the Zen monk Ekai Kawaguchi (1866-1945) together with J. Takakusu under the permission of Maharaja Chandra Shumsher, cf. Thapa 2004.
Kathmandu, NAK
The National Archives in Kathmandu (Rāṣṭriyābhilekhālaya, NAK) stores several pieces, and all of them have been made available on microfilm by the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project (NGMPP) [35]. There are, according to their collection ("lagat") number [36, 36a]:
| acc |
|
|
fol |
reel |
| 1/772 |
Palm |
Np |
7 |
B 23/5 |
| 3/91 |
|
Np |
33 |
B 98/5 |
| 3/257 |
Pap |
Np |
126 |
B 98/8 |
| 3/297 |
Pap |
Dn |
47 |
A 121/9 |
| 3/663 |
|
Dn |
47 |
B 98/9 |
| 3/723 |
|
Dn |
304 |
A 915/7 |
| 4/1033 |
Pap |
Np |
54 |
B 97/7 |
| 5/185 |
|
Np |
99 |
A 121/8 |
| 5/191 |
|
Dn |
39 |
A 915/6 |
| 5/7727 |
|
Dn |
129 |
A 134/5 |
| 5/7954 |
|
Np |
46 |
B 97/9 |
| 6/3311 |
Palm |
Np |
11 |
A 1389/23 |
| 6/3313 |
Palm |
Mai |
19 |
A 1389/22 |
[36] Cf. Saṃkṣiptasūcīpattram and Bṛhatsūcīpattram. For lagats 1-3 (former Durbar, resp. Bīr library – Vīrapustakālaya), cf. Śāstrī 1905-1915, Grünendahl 1989, as well as Kaneko/Saito 1954. The stocks of lagat 5 (the mss. of Hemarāja Śarmā from the former Nepal National Library – Nepālarāṣṭriyapustakālaya) are catalogued in the Sūcīpatram (V.S. 2021-24, Purātattvagranthamālā 26, 27, 31, 41), cf. Grünendahl 1989, p. XVIII. Detailed infos on the history of the NAK could be found in Dimitrov 2007, p. 117 sq., esp. fn. 16.
[36a] It would have been nice to get some scans from the NGMCP for deeper inquiries, but after over an year now I’ve given it up to finally get some or even got at least some reels ordered from Berlin to make scans of my own. So, after I haven’t even got a reply to my emails thanks for no support whatsoever, and esp. for things being said like “I am really not supposed to take care of you all the day …”, “Show me all the mails you claim you’ve written to me …”, etc. when I’ve asked personally. Everybody who encouraged me to insist: no chance!
Kathmandu, Kaiser Library
The Kaiser library in Kathmandu owns two manuscripts of the Bca, and these are also available through NGMPP microfilms [37]:
| 124 |
Palm |
Np |
73 |
300 N.S. |
C 14/2 |
| 127 |
Palm |
Np |
41 |
|
C 14/5 |
[37] Photographies of this collection are stored on the NGMPP microfilm reel nos. C 1/1 – C 124/6, cf. Dimitrov/Tamot 2007, p. 31.
Manuscripts from Tibet
Ye 2009 lists 7 precious old Bca manuscripts which have survived in Tibet [38]:
- one (6.2.1) has been catalogued already by Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana (1893-1963) in the Ṅor monastery [39],
- two of them (6.2.2 [40] and 6.2.3 [41]) have been kept in the China Library of Nationalities (Zhongguo Minzu Tushuguan) in Beijing, but have been brought in 1993 into the Tibetan Museum in Lhasa [42]
- One piece (6.2.4 [43]) have been catalogued in the Norbuliṅka,
- two others (6.2.5 [44], 6.2.6 [45]) in the Drepung monastery,
- while one (6.2.7 [46]) is said to be held by the Administrative Committee of Cultural Relics of the Lho ka district.
By the way, The Tucci collection does not contain any instances of Śāntideva’s poem [47].
[38] Cf. p. 231 sq. (6.2).
[39] "14 fols. (incomplete), 12×1⅔ in., Māgadhi script". Cf. Sāṅkṛtyāyana 1935, p. 37 (no. XII-4-110). "Māgadhī" as script is a term which Sāṅkṛtyāyana used to refer to Old Bengali, cf. Bandurski 1994, p. 19. On the scholar and his travels, cf. Kellner 2010.
[40] "Palm-leaf, 23 fols (complete, 10 chapters), 6 lines, 22 × 2 in., Proto-Bengālī script." Catalogued by Sāṅkṛtyāyana at Sa-skya monastery, cf. the report from 1937, p. 24 (VI-VI-196) [not available to me, but cf. Tsukamato/Matsunaga/Isoda 1990, p. 257 (no. 18)]. This manuscript was examined by Lindtner in Beijing („very accurate“) and he noted variants, cf. Lindtner 1991.
[41] "Paper, 71 fols. (incomplete, fols. 8, 9, 31, 42, 50, 59 are missing, 10 chapters), 5 lines, Eastern Nāgarī script."
[42] Cf. Steinkellner 2004, p. 23.
[43] "Paper, 38 fols. (incomplete, missing fol. 17), 8 lines, 29.9 × 6.3 cm, Gupta script."
[44] "Palm-leaf, 58 fols. (incomplete, fols. 27, 38, 39, 60 missing, 10 chapters), 5 lines, 30.2 × 4.9 cm, Gupta script […] Tibetan notes on the last folio: sgu rum dpe gang gi rgya dpe. From this we know that this manuscript comes from India and was formerly held in the sGum rum library of the Sakya Monastery."
[45] "Palm-leaf, 67 fols. (complete, 10 chapters), 5 lines, 29.1 × 5.4 cm, Dhārikā script."
[46] "Caryāvatāra, palm-leaf, 69 fols. (complete), 5 lines, 32.2 × 5.6 cm, script similar to Gupta, title on the cover: spyod ‘jug gi bzhung."
[47] Cf. Sferra 2008.
Unregarded manuscripts, reproductions
IASWR
The former Institute of Advanced Studies of World Religions (IASWR) at the State University of New York (SUNY) has microfilmed two text instances of the Bca, which could be found in their microfiche set, like it was sold to the Indological Department of Bonn University [48]:
MBB-I-1 (microfilm number MBB-1971-1-1) is a palm leaf manuscript of N.S. 880 in Bhujimola script, 5×28 cm with 7 lines, 38 numbers of leaves, the 2nd one is missing, cf. IASWR 1973. The scanned card gives the piece contains 9 chapters up to Prajñāpāramitā, chapter II begins on fol. 3r6, III on 7r4, IV on 9r8, V on 13v2, VI on 19r7, VII on 22v3, VIII on 30r1, and IX on 37r7. Unfortunately, very sloppy photographies, and in large parts hardly legible.
MBB-II-231 (microfilm number sheet and card not legible) is written in Nepalese characters, 6 lines on 42 fol. Some folios not legible.
[48] Cf. Eimer/Paffen 1988, p. 146 (duplicates of the NGMPP reels nos. B 97 and 98 are also available here). On the precious collection in Bonn, cf. Hahn 1988.
Nagoya
The Buddhist Library in Nagoya own several microfilms with photographies of Bca manuscripts from private collections in Nepal [49]:
"CA 10-3. Bodhicaryāvatāre pariṇāmanta pariccheda: (Language) Sanskrit, (Script) Devanāgarī, (Material) Paper, Hartāla on b, (Size) 26×12¼ cm., (Leaves) ff.104 (1b-104b), ex.ff. 3, (Lines) ll.6."
"CH 257. Bodhicaryā avatāra: (Language) Sanskrit, (Script) Devanāgarī, (Material) Paper, Hartāla on b, (Size) 22x12cm., (Leaves) ff.62 (1b-61b) doubled f.41, (Lines) ll.6 (f.1-54) ll.10 (f.55-last)."
"CH 314. Bodhicaryāvatāre parikathā kṛtiyamācārya śrī Śāntideva pādānam: (Language) Sanskrit, (Script) Newa: Lipi, (Date of writing) SAMVAT written in letters "NANDA-ŚARA-KHACARE" [50], (Material) Paper, Hartāla on b, (Size) 31¾x11 cm., (Leaves) ff.65 (1b-65b), (Lines) ll.7."
"DH 219. Bodhicaryyāvatāre Prajñāpāramitā pariccheda: (Language) Sanskrit, (Script) Devanāgarī, (Material and form of MS) Paper, Hartāla on one side, Banded, (Size) 22¾x15cm., (Pages) pp.57, (Lines) ll.20."
[49] Cf. Takaoka 1981. Cited from Tsukamato/Matsunaga/Isoda 1990, p. 258.
[50] Probably "9-5-0", cf. Sircar 1965, p. 230 sq.
NGMPP
The NGMPP holds several microfilm rolls in the State Library Berlin with photographies of manuscripts from private collections [51]:
| E 910/1 |
|
Dn |
76 |
|
| E 910/10 |
|
Dn |
29 |
|
| E 1099/1 |
|
Np |
65 |
1839 A.D. |
| E 1256/7 |
|
Np |
26 |
|
| E 1518/5 |
Palm |
Np |
32 |
|
| E 1553/2 |
|
Dn |
79 |
|
| E 1357/2 |
|
Dn |
46 |
1937 A.D. |
| E 1375/3 |
|
Dn |
86 |
|
| E 1484/13 |
|
Dn |
9 |
|
| E 1700/9 |
|
Np |
80 |
|
| E 1730/16 |
|
Dn |
76 |
|
| E 1730/17 |
|
Dn |
28 |
|
| E 1838/4 |
|
Dn |
49 |
1816 A.D. |
| E 2511/1 |
|
Np |
47 |
|
| E 3227/17 |
|
Dn |
8 |
|
| H 3/3 |
|
Dn |
6 |
|
| H 44/5 |
|
|
82 |
1924 A.D. |
| H 321/7 |
|
Np |
63 |
|
| H 380/8 |
|
Np |
17 |
1644 A.D. |
| H 1086/5 |
|
Dn |
61 |
|
[51] For the NGMPP items cf. the NGMCP project database: http://134.100.72.204:3000/account/login. Reels carrying the siglum "E" have been filmed from private collections in Kathmandu, "H" from private collections in Patan, cf. Moriguchi 1989, p. VIII.
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