Buddhist Text Information (reupload)

The Buddhist Text Information (BTI, ISSN 0360-6112) is a cumulative bibliography of Buddhist literature which was compiled at the Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions (IASWR) of the SUNY. The series, edited by Richard Gard and Nora Larke, is very refined and a trustworthy companion for bibliographers as much as a Fundgrube for researchers. Furthermore, the research reports which are included in the later issues are relevant for the history of Buddhology. I’ve provided scans of the BTI on my old personal page before, but a brand new combined DjVu bundle of the whole journal [1 (1974) - 78 (1993), approx. 196 MB] equipped with a navigation sidebar now could be found here (mirror). Enjoy!

A little bibliography of the Nalopākhyānam

“There was a king with the name Nala, Vīrasena’s strong son. He was equipped with the desirable qualities, had a good shape and knew how to treat horses …” – here’s a little bibliography on the Nalopākhyānam, the tale of Nala and Damayantī. The episode is truly one of the gems of the Mahābhārata and has always been a popular text even of beginners in Sanskrit. Furthermore, the text is ideal to get into the critical edition of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Insitute in Pune (BORI), where it is to be found in the 3rd volume, that’s the 1st part of the Āraṇyakaparvan (edited by Vishnu S. Sukthankar in 1942), in Adhyāyas 50-78. The reception history which could be seen from this little chronological bibliography here (far from being complete and a allowedly a little bit biased towards German) shows that the text always was an issue in Indology since its “discovery” by Franz Bopp (1791-1867) in Paris in the early 19th century [1]. To quote one of the forefathers, August Wilhelm von Schlegel (1767-1845) praises the text: “Hier will ich nur so viel sagen, daß nach meinem Gefühl dieses Gedicht an Pathos und Ethos, and hinreißender Gewalt der Leidenschaften wie an Hoheit und Zartheit der Gesinnungen, schwerlich übertroffen werden kann. Es ist ganz dazu gemacht, alt und jung anzusprechen, vornehm und gering, die Kenner der Kunst, und die, welche sich bloß ihrem natürlichen Sinne überlassen” [2]. Here we go:

• J[ohann] G[ottfried] L[udwig] Kosegarten (1792-1850): Nala. Eine indische Dichtung von Wjasa. Aus dem Sanscrit im Versmasse der Urschrift übersetzt, und mit Anmerkungen begleitet. Jena: Fromman 1820.

• Friedrich Rückert: Nal und Damayanti. Eine indische Geschichte. Frankfurt a.M.: Sauerländer 1828 [2nd ed. 1838, 3rd ed. 1845].

• Franz Bopp: Nalus maha-bharati episodium. Textus sanscritus cum interpretatione latina et annotationibus criticis. Altera emendata editio. Berolinum: Nicolai 1832.

• Franz Bopp: Nalas und Damayanti. Eine indische Dichtung. Aus dem Sanskrit übersetzt. Berlin: Nicolai 1838 [3].

• Monier Monier-Williams (1819-1899): Nalopákhyánam. Story of Nala. An episode of the Mahá-Bhárata. The Sanskrit text with copious vocabulary, grammatical analysis and introduction. The metrical translation by Henry Hart Milman. Oxford: University Press 1860.

• Edmund Lobedanz: König Nal und sein Weib. Indische Sage. Deutsch metrisch bearbeitet. Leipzig: Brockhaus 1863.

• P.G. Maggi: Nala. Poemetto indiano estratto dal terzo libro del Mahàbhàrata. In: Rivista Orientale 1 (1867/68), 68 sq.

• John Peile (1838-1910): Notes on the Nalopȧkhyȧnam or Tale of Nala for the use of Classical students. Cambridge: University Press 1881.

• Hermann Camillo Kellner (1839-1916): Das Lied von König Nala. Erstes Lehrbuch für Anfänger im Sanskrit. Nach didaktischen Grundsätzen bearbeitet und in transkribiertem Texte mit Wörterbuch herausgegeben. Leipzig: Brockhaus 1885.

• W[illem] Caland: Sāvitrī und Nala. Zwei Episoden aus dem Mahābhārata. Text mit kurzen erklärenden Noten und Glossar. Utrecht: Oosthoek 1917.

• P[aul] E[mile] Dumont (1879-1968): Histoire de Nala conte indien. Episode du Mahâbhârata. Traduction nouvelle. Bruxelles: Lamertin 1923.

• Franklin Edgerton (1885-1963): A critical edited text of Nala, 1-5 [review of the 1st fasc. of volume 3 of the BORI edition]. In: Journal of the American Oriental Society 62,3 (1942), 198-200.

• Albrecht Wezler: Nala und Damayanti. Eine Episode aus dem Mahābhārata. Aus dem Sanskrit übertragen und erläutert. Stuttgart: Reclam 1965 (Reclams Universal-Bibliothek; 8938).

• Soh Takahashi: The tale of Nala. Text (transcription) and vocabulary. Hildesheim (usw.): Olms 1994 (Text und Studien zur Orientalistik; 9) [reviewed in JAOS 117,1 (1997), 226].

Notes:

[1] See W. Morgenroth: Franz Bopp als Indologe und die Anfänge der Sanskrit-Lexikographie in Europa. In: R. Sternemann (Hrsg.): Bopp-Symposium 1992 der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Akten der Konferenz vom 24.3-26.3.1992 aus Anlaß von Franz Bopps zweihundertjährigem Geburtstag am 14.9.1991. Heidelberg: Winter 1994 (Indogermanische Bibliothek, 3. Reihe), 162-72.

[2] On page 98 of the review of Bopp’s first edition of the text (Nalus carmen sanscritum Mahàbhàrato. Edidit, latine verit, et adnotationibus illustravit Fanciscus Bopp. London (usw.): Treuttel et Würtz 1819) in the first volume of the Indische Bibliothek from 1832, 97-128. On the early contributions towards the Nalopākhyānam see F. Adelung’s Bibliotheca sanscrita (2nd ed., St. Petersburg 1837), p. 243 seq., and J. Gildemeister’s Bibliotheca sanskritae sive recensus librorum sanskritorum (Bonn and London 1847), nos. 98 seq.

[3] Wilhelm von Humboldt in a letter to Bopp from 1837: “Es ist mir eine große Freude, mein vieljähriger, hochverehrter Freunde, Ihnen den innigsten Dank für den Genuß zu sagen, den mir die erst diese Nacht vollendete Lectüre ihrer schönen Übertragung des Nalus verschafft hat. Bei Ihnen erst glaubt man sich in das alte Gedicht versetzt. Rückert leiß mir immer den Eindruck der Tünche und der Vergleichung; die Sie haben wagen können in der Stille des Baumes Kummerlos zeugt ganz für Ihre Art der Behandlung. Das Großartige des ungeheuren Gedichts gewinnt bei der schmucklosen Einfachheit, in der Sie immer gestrebt haben, es erscheinen zu lassen” [S. Lefmann: Franz Bopp, sein Leben und seine Wissenschaft. 1. Hälfte. Berlin 1891, p. 125*].

New publication on the old Sanskrit manuscripts from Tibet

Another recent publication towards the Sanskrit manuscripts which survived in Tibet:

Sanskrit manuscripts in China. Proceedings of a panel at the 2008 Beijing Seminar on Tibetan Studies, October 13 to 17. Edited by Ernst Steinkellner in cooperation with Duan Qing and Helmut Krasser. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House 2009. ISBN 978-7-80253-226-7.

Content:

• Duan Qing: A fragment of the Bhadrakalpasūtra in Buddhist Sanskrit from Xinjiang.
• Fan Muyou: Some grammatical notes on the Advayasamatāvijayamahākalparāja.
• Pascale Hugon: Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge’s synoptic table of the Pramāṇaviniścaya.
• Harunaga Isaacson: A collection of Hevajrasādhanas and related works in Sanskrit.
• Matthew T. Kapstein: Preliminary remarks on the Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje.
• Shoryu Katsura: Rediscovering Dignāga through Jinendrabuddhi.
• Helmut Krasser: Original text and (re)translation – a critical evaluation.
• Li Xuezhu: Candrakīrti on dharmanairātmya as held by both Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna – based on Madhyamakāvatāra Chapter 1.
• 李学竹: 月称关于二乘人通达法无我的论证 – 以梵文本《入中论》第 一 章为考察中心.
• Luo Hong: A preliminary report on a newly identified Sanskrit manuscript of the Vinayasūtra from Tibet.
• Luo Zhao: The cataloguing of Sanskrit manuscripts preserved in the TAR: A complicated process that has lasted more than twenty years.
• 罗炤: 西藏梵文贝叶经的编目情况及二十余年的曲折经过.
• Saerji: Sanskrit manuscript of the Svapnādhyāya preserved in Tibet.
• Francesco Sferra: The Manuscripta Buddhica project – alphabetical list of Sanskrit manuscripts and photographs of  Sanskrit manuscripts in Giuseppe Tucci’s collection.
• Ernst Steinkellner: Strategies for modes of management and scholarly treatment of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the TAR.
• 恩斯特∙斯坦因凯勒: 西藏自治区梵文手稿的管理模式及学术性处理方面的策略.
• Tsewang Gyurme: Protecting the Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts in the Tibetan Autonomous Region – A summary.
• Ye Shaoyong: A preliminary survey of Sanskrit manuscripts of Madhyamaka texts preserved in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

A basic “Evaṃ mayā śrutam ….” bibliography

Some contributions towards the formulaic opening of Buddhist sutras (Sanskrit: evaṃ mayā śrutam ekasmin samaye bhagavān … viharati sma) [chronologically]:

• John Brough: “Thus have I heard …”. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 13,2 (1950), 416-26 [= Collected papers. Edited by Minoru Hara and J.C. Wright. London 1996, 63-73].
• N.H. Samtani: The opening of the Buddhist sutras. In: Bhāratī – Bulletin of the College of Indology 8,2 (1964-64), 47-63.
• Yuichi Kajiyama: “Thus spoke the blessed one …”. In: L. Lancaster (Ed.): Prajñāpāramitā and related systems. Studies in honor of E. Conze. Berkeley 1977, 93-99.
• Jonathan Silk: A note on the opening of Buddhist sutras. In: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 12,1 (1989), 158-63.
• Brian Galloway: “Thus have I heard: at one time …”. In: Indo-Iranian Journal 34,2 (1991), 87-104.
• Bernhard Kölver: Das Symbol evaṃ. In: Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik 16 (1992), 101-07.
• Mark Tatz: Brief Communication. In: Indo-Iranian Journal 36,4 (1993), 335-36 [= Indo-Iranian Journal 40,2 (1997), 117-18 (mistakenly)].
• Brian Galloway: A reply to Professor Mark Tatz. In: Indo-Iranian Journal 40,4 (1997), 367-71.
• Gregory Schopen: If you can’t remember, how to make it up. Some monastic rules for redacting canonical texts. In: P. Kieffer-Pülz (Ed.): Bauddhavidyāsudhākaraḥ. Studies in honour of Heinz Bechert on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Swisttal-Odendorf 1997, 571-82 [= Buddhist monks and business matters. Still more papers on monastic Buddhism in India. Honolulu 2004, 395-408].
• Fernando Tola, Carmen Dragonetti: Ekam samayam. In: Indo-Iranian Journal 42,1 (1999), 53-55.
• Konrad Klaus: Zu der formelhaften Einleitung der buddhistischen Sūtras. In: K. Klaus, J.-U. Hartmann (Ed.): Indica et Tibetica. Festschrift für Michael Hahn. Wien 2007, 309-22.

Additions welcome!

A collection of some online available* journals

*Includes “partly online available” and “online available depending if subscribed to (individually or by your library)“

Acta Orientalia Vilnensia (ISSN 1648-2662)

Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (ISSN 0041-977x, current volume for free here)

Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie (ISSN 076-1177)

eJournal of Indian medicine (eJIM)

Indologica Taurinensia (IT, ISSN 1023-3881)

Journal asiatique (JA, ISSN 0021-762x)

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (JRAS, ISSN 13561863)

International Journal of Jaina Studies (IJJS, ISSN 1748-1074)

Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies (JIATS, ISSN 1550-6363)

Journal of Oriental Studies (ISSN 0915-5309)

Journal of Buddhist Ethics (JBE, ISSN 1076-9005)

Indo-Iranian Journal (IIJ, ISSN (online ed.) 1572-8563)

Journal of South Asian Linguistics (JSAL)

Journal of Indian Philosophy (JIP, ISSN (online ed.) 1573-0395).

Journal of the American Oriental Society (JAOS, ISSN 0003-0279)

Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies / Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū (JIBS, ISSN 0019-4344)

International Journal of Tantric Studies (IJTS, ISSN 1084-7553)

Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies (EJVS, ISSN 1084-7561)

Journal of South Asia Women Studies (JSAWS, ISSN 1084-7478)

Orientalistische Literaturzeitung (ISSN 0030-5383)

Philosophy East and West (ISSN 0031-8221)

Annual Report of the Internation Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University (ARIRIAB, ISSN 1343-8980)

Buddhist Studies Review (BSR, ISSN 0256-2897, online  ed. 1747-9681)

Rivista degli studi orientali (ISSN 0392-4866)

Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (ZDMG, ISSN 0341-0137)

Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens (WZKS, ISSN (online ed.) 1728-3124)

There are a lot of other journals available at the THDL. If you didn’t already knew, an outstanding tool for bibiographing relevant journal articles is SARDS 2. Keep up with E-Toc-Alert in Heidelberg. Peter Wyzlic runs reviews @ Indologica.de (“Zeitschriftenschau”).

This posting is open for additions, please don’t hesitate to drop an addition. Thanks in advance!