Some scans of IASWR manuscript photographies

There are some scans of the items of the IASWR MBB microfiche manuscript photography collection available now. I’ve uploaded them here. There is also the title list. The scans have been made in Bonn at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Thanks to them (esp. Irmgard Bartel) for making their microscanner available. The files are going to stay for a couple of weeks. The digitizing of the rest of this unique, precious collection is an desideratum, but lacks the proper funding by now. Rare material like this should be available on the net. Please enjoy! The photographies on the microfiches are of different quality, and their scans represent that. Djvu software is available here.

(taken from mbb-ii-229 “buddhacitrasamgrāha”)

Comments on some items (posted partially previously on blog predecessor, thanks for Adrian Cîrstei for saving it):

I-20 (”Pīṭhatantra” according to title list) has been identified by Péter-Daniel Szántó (Oxford) as Caryāvratipada’s Catuṣpīṭhamaṇḍalopāyikā, describing the initiation ritual of the Catuṣpīṭha cult, c.f. Antiquarian enquiries into the initiation manuals of the Catuṣpīṭha {NGMCP Newsletter 6 (2008), 2-12}.

I-41 “Catuḥpīṭhamahātantrarāja”, I-42 “Prajñāvataraṇayoga” and I-43 “Catuḥpīṭhavivṛti” have been identified as the collection owner’s copy of NAK [National Archives Kathmandu] 5-37 [= NGMPP A 138/10] plus NAK 5-38 [= NGMPP B 112/4]. These mss contains fragments of Āryadeva’s Catuṣpīṭhamaṇḍalopāyikā, c.f. Szánto, op.cit, fn. 37.

I-83 suggests to be a very rare manuscript of Asaṅga Maitreyanātha’s Yogācāra classic Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāra. But during it’s exmination by Kamaleswar Bhattacarya (CNRS Paris) it came out that this is indeed just a transcript of Sylvain Lévi’s edition (Paris 1907, c.f. Observations sur l’édition du Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra par Sylvain Lévi {L. Bansat-Boudon / R. Lardinios (Ed.): Sylvain Lévi (1863-1935). Études indiennes, histoire sociale. Actes du colloque tenu à Paris les 8-10 octobre 2003. Turnhout: Brepols 2007, 71 ff.}), because the text carries the same typical readings (for a list of emendations c.f. For a new edition of the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra {Journal of the Nepal Research Center 12 (2001), 5-14}), besides this “manuscript” also looks very imitating a printed edition. So this item plays only a very minor if even a single role in the criticism of that text. For this reason I’ve scanned only a representative portion of this item.

II-11 identified as disparate folios of a Abhidhānottara palm-leaf manuscript, the longest explanatory tantra of the Śamvara cult.

II-117 and no. I-62 of this collection are precious manuscripts of Candrakīrti’s Prasannapadā, the important commentary on Nāgārjuna’s Māhayāna philosophy ground work Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Althought these two items play only a subordinated role in the criticism of that text (c.f. J.W. de Jong, Textcritical notes on the Prasannapadā {Indo-Iranian Journal 20 (1978), 26-59 & 217-52}, 26; A. MacDonald, The Prasannapadā: more manuscripts from Nepal {Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens 44 (2000), 165-81}, 167), and I think it’s an advantage to have it available.

III-5 (”Catuḥpiṭhabṛhatmahātantra”) was identified by P.D. Szántó and Adrian Cîrstei as Jagadānandajīvabhadra’s Yogāmbarasādhana.

The seasons turn … Granthinām stays!

Hi friends. Granthinām is back on the net. I’ve got some problems with the server and the remote backup software and accidentially the whole blog (Granthinām 2) was shaved away in an instant. … I’m sorry? Yes … no, I didn’t got another backup of the database. So this is the third restart and in the future there will be all the necessary precautions. By the way, thanks for the appreciation which has been given to me during the last months.