Buddhist Monastic Life in Central Asia — A Bilingual Text in Sanskrit and Old Uyghur Relating to The Pravāraṇā Ceremony

Abstract

Bilingual texts in Old Uyghur and Sanskrit in Brāhmī script are essential for the understanding of how the Indian Buddhist tradition came to be appropriated by the Uyghurs in general, but especially during the Yuan Dynasty (1279–1368 CE). Some manuscripts represent Vinaya related materials which are missing altogether in monolingual Old Uyghur texts. The article introduces a bilingual fragment (Sanskrit and Old Uyghur) in Uyghur script housed in the Turfan Collection in Berlin which belongs to the Karmavācanā literature and deals with the pravāraṇā ceremony. This monastic ritual was celebrated after the annual retreat of three months during the rainy season (Skt. varṣā). In the Sanskrit part the fragment corresponds well with the Sanskrit Karmavācanā literature from Central Asia, whereas the Uyghur instructions on the recto are quite unique.