A Preliminary Study of the Dunhuang Tibetan Fragments of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Ekottarakarmaśataka (I): Tarjanīyakarman

Abstract

This paper identifies a lost Old Tibetan version of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-Ekottarakarmaśataka (hereafter, EK) as preserved in Dunhuang Tibetan fragments. It firstly gives a brief introduction to the related Tibetan manuscripts Pelliot tibétain 945 and Indian Office Library Tibetan J 596, and then analyses the textual nature of the Old Tibetan version of the EK preserved in these manuscripts by comparing with its cognate Chinese version, i.e., Genbenshuoyiqieyoubu baiyijiemo 根本說一切有部百一羯磨 (T 1453) translated by Yi Jing 義淨 (635–713 CE). Then, it focuses on the passage of the tarjanīyakarman (Tib. bsdigs pa’i las, Chin. 令怖羯磨), one of the ecclesiastical rituals for punishment in the Buddhist Order, as seen in the Old Tibetan version of the EK. It reveals that the tarjanīyakarman passage therein is textually related to, even derived mutatis mutandis from, Pāṇḍulohitakavastu. In sum, this paper introduces for the first time the ‘true’ Tibetan version of the EK long forgotten yet preserved in Dunhuang, and attempts to show its affiliation with the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition.