Sanskrit Manuscripts Research Articles

Новый фрагмент санскритской Саддхармапундарика-сутры из Хотана

Introduction. The collection of Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra is a richest one in the Serindian Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (RAS, 27 call numbers). Most of the fragments of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra from the Serindian Collection belong to the Central Asian edition, including the famous Kashgar manuscript by N. F. Petrovsky that is the most extensive version of the Sutra (about 400 folios) and the core of the Sanskrit manuscripts containing the text of ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīka’. Most of the Sanskrit manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra in the Serindian Collection were compiled in the southern oases of the Tarim Basin and made in poṭhī format. The texts of these manuscripts were written in Southern Turkestan Brāhmī in black ink on paper. According to paleographic data, these manuscripts can be dated to the 8th–9th centuries AD. Goals. The article seeks to introduce into academic circulation a new fragment of the Sanskrit Lotus Sutra from the Serindian Collection of the IOM (RAS). The new unpublished fragment of the Lotus Sutra stored under call number SI 6584 has been identified relatively recently. It is an excerpt from Chapter XVIII of the Lotus Sutra (‘The Chapter Describing the Religious Merit [Obtained through] Joyful Participation [in Dharma]’, ‘Anumodanāpuṇyanirdeśaparivartaḥ’). According to paleographic and codicological characteristics, the new fragment is very close to another previously published manuscript of the Lotus Sutra stored in the Serindian Collection under call number SI 1934. The article describes the external features of both manuscripts (SI 1934 and SI 6584), transliterates, translates and compares fragment SI 6584 to the other well-known texts of the Lotus Sutra. The paper also contains a facsimile reproduction of fragment SI 6584. Conclusions. As compared to other texts of the Lotus Sutra, fragment SI 6584 belongs to the Central Asian edition of ‘Saddharmapuṇḍarīka’, and its text is almost identical to that of the Kashgar manuscript by N. F. Petrovsky (fol. 335b–337a).

Building a Library: The Arabic and Persian Manuscript Collection of Sir William Jones

AbstractThis article contributes to the established scholarship on Sir William Jones (d.1794) by providing a detailed overview and analysis of the Arabic and Persian manuscript collection that Jones acquired both before arriving in India in 1784, and during his time living in Kolkata. 118 manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Urdu and 69 Sanskrit manuscripts, as well as nine Chinese manuscripts, were transferred to the Royal Society library by Jones in 1792. These were then transferred to the India Office Library in 1876 and are currently housed in the British Library. As well as an in-depth survey of these manuscripts, this article provides important information on the manuscripts which remained in the Jones's possession after 1792 and which were sold, along with the rest of Lady Jones's (d.1829) library, at auction in 1831 after her death. Within this overview of the Arabic and Persian manuscript collections, there will be a sustained focus on the methods of acquiring manuscripts and Jones's curatorial management of his library.

The cult of the Cintāmaṇi: The nature and context of the Dunhuang manuscript P. 4518 (10)

The Dunhuang manuscript P. 4518 (10) is a fascinating illustrated manuscript that could be dated in the 10th century. Although it is commonly known as the scene of preaching Dharma, contemporary scholarship does not offer an adequate interpretation. Combining both traditional canonical texts and uncovered Chinese and Sanskrit manuscripts from Dunhuang and Khotan, this study suggests that this is an illustration showing that the Buddha explained the Mani pearl as the symbol of his Dharma Body (Dharmakaya) to two Arhats who were depicted as two monks with halo, upon the inquiry of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva. This story might come from the Jñānālokālaṃkāra-sūtra, a popular text in Central and East Asia, as its Sanskrit fragments from Khotan and Chinese manuscripts from Dunhuang indicated. One of the most important themes in this text was the Mani pearl appeared as the symbol of the Dharmakaya, which should be honored and worshipped.

References to the Preservation of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Medieval Tibetan Monastries: gCung Ri bo che and sPos khang

Hardly any Sanskrit manuscripts of Buddhist scriptures remain in India proper today, even though such manuscripts have been discovered in surrounding regions. Tibet in particular is one of the richest treasuries of precious Sanskrit manuscripts from as early as the 8th century. While these materials are currently studied mostly in order to clarify Indian Buddhism, their historical aspects (e.g. their origins in India, their transmission to Tibet, their preservation in Tibetan monasteries) are yet to be clarified. Currently, almost all of them are preserved in Lhasa, but they were once preserved in various monasteries outside Lhasa, though we do not know the relevant details. The present paper investigates two examples that show their preservation at monasteries in the medieval period, focusing on the Sanskrit manuscripts once preserved at gCung Ri bo che and at sPos khang tshogs pa. Those preserved at gCung Ri bo che are mentioned by Tāranātha in his autobiography. He mentions a Sanskrit manuscript of the Suhṛllekha from this place, which might be identified with that currently preserved at ’Bras spungs monastery. In sPos khang there were once three bundles of Sanskrit manuscripts, as mentioned by Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana and dGe ’dun chos ’phel, of which one bundle (a paper manuscript of verses of the Madhyāntavibhāga, Dharmadharmatā[pra]vibhāga, and Abhisamayālaṃkāra) was produced in Ya tse and presented to Tibet in the 14th century.

A List of the Place and Ethnic Names in the Sanskrit Manuscript of the <i>Tathāgataguhya-sūtra</i>: A Comparison with the Parallel Narrative in the *<i>Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā</i>

It has been so far pointed out that the first Chinese translation of the Guhyakādhipatinirdeśa (Tathāgataguhya-sūtra) translated by *Dharmarakṣa includes many place and ethnic names including country names along the Silk Road. This paper compares the place and the ethnic names listed in the Sanskrit manuscript of the Tathāgataguhya-sūtra and in its first Chinese translation with the ethnic names in the parallel narrative in the *Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā. As a result, it can be speculated that the Tathāgataguhya-sūtra was established in Northwest India.

The Transmission of Subhūticandra's <em>Kavikāmadhenu</em> Commentary in Tibet

Van der Kuijp in his article “On the Vicissitudes of Subhūticandra's Kāmadhenu Commentary on the Amarakoṣa in Tibet” had focused on “some of the highlights of the ways in which the Kāmadhenu was handed down among Tibet's literati from the late twelfth to the middle of the eighteenth century.” As shown by van der Kuijp, “the twists and turns of the texts and translations of these two treatises” are by no means simple. In order to understand these “twists and turns” it is necessary to study the transmission of this commentary in Tibetan literature. This in itself is a desideratum and would be a task for the future. In this paper, I plan to examine a small fraction of the Tibetan literature represented by the Tibetan lexicographical tradition. This examination will prove helpful in understanding the relationship between the Sanskrit manuscripts, the Tibetan translations of the Kavikāmadhenu, and the Tibetan lexica and as a result will shed some light on the transmission of this important lexicographical text in Tibet.

Диалог рукописей в драматургии агиографии: цитирование произведений Рупы Госвами в тексте Чайтанья-чаритамриты Кришнадаса Кавираджа Госвами

In this article we have considered how Sanskrit quotes from Rupa Gosvami’s plays (Vidagdha-madhava and Lalitamadhava) entered by Krishnadas Kaviraja into the Bengali text of Caitanya-caritamrita, highlight the important parts of the hagiography and dramaturgy of the narration. They reveal the very peak of the extensive work of Krishnadas Kaviradja Gosvami, that, in turn, change our perception of Rupy Gosvami’s plays. The excerpts from the works of Rupy Gosvami, interwoven into the ‘fabric’ of this hagiography, are used as an illustration of significant philosophical doctrines in the text of Caitanyacaritamrita. They are also cited as an evidence of the author’s theological thoughts. The listed above Sanskrit and Bengali manuscripts (from The Manuscript Collection Kept at the IOM RAS) enter into the dialogue to emphasize the tectonics and logic of the hagiography development.

Prajñākaragupta on Yogic Perception and Omniscience

This paper aims to clarify Prajñākaragupta’s interpretation of yogic perception, focusing especially on the notion of avisaṃvādi in Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika III 286, on which E. Franco has recently provided a new reading, pramāṇasaṃvādi, on the basis of Prajñākaragupta’s description (PVA 327.32–33). By examining the same portion, this paper concludes as follows: 1. By considering Dharmakīrti’s argument on yogic perception in the Pramāṇaviniścaya and the Sanātānāntarasiddhi, the reading pramāṇaṃ saṃvādi is preferable to Franco’s suggestion; 2. A Sanskrit manuscript and a Tibetan translation reveal that Prajñākaragupta takes the verse as an antaraślokaḥ to which no explanation is added. Therefore, the portion (PVA 327.32–33) should be considered his own argument, not a paraphrase of the verse; 3. From Prajñākaragupta’s viewpoint, the notion of avisaṃvādi is understood in the context of the Buddha’s omniscience as a kind of yogic perception, which guarantees his words on all objects, including supra-sensible objects like the other world (paraloka) because, as Dharmakīrti has argued in Pramāṇavārttika I 215, the Buddha’s words have verifiability for other perceptible and inferable objects.

CNN-Bidirectional LSTM Based Optical Character Recognition of Sanskrit Manuscripts : A Comprehensive Systematic Literature Review

Optical character recognition (OCR) is a technology that allows you to convert different types of documents or images into searchable, editable, and analyzable data. The current work on Sanskrit Character Recognition from Images of Text Documents is one of the most difficult due to similarities in the forms of unique letters, script complexity, non-forte in the representation, and a vast number of symbols. The Devanagari script is used to write the Sanskrit language. There are a variety of approaches for recognizing characters in a scanned image. The present research initiatives highlight the importance and needs of efforts in recognition of printed and handwritten documents written in Sanskrit language. This paper is aims at reviewing the state of various scripts in use including those from medieval to present era and explores the prospective of digital recognition of printed texts and thereby pointing towards futuristic trends in developing restoration software for Sanskrit scripts. Challenge is due to the number of languages and their diverse scripts. The scarcity of digitized linguistic resources makes the task a tougher one. The paper also highlights on the characteristics and challenges of recognition of scripts of Sanskrit origin. Largely the digital recognition is limited to simple numerals and isolated characters. In addition, this review article serves the purpose an optical character recognition (OCR) system that enables to analyse the word recognition and translate various types of Sanskrit documents or images into text using deep learning architectures which include Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Bidirectional long-short term memory (Bidirectional LSTM).

A Brief Introduction to Two Manuscripts of Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā Found in Tibet

There are two Sanskrit manuscripts of Kṣemendra’s Bodhisattvāvadānakalpalatā preserved at Drepung Monastery in Tibet. The earlier one (according to the colophon) contains all the 108 avadānas comprising the whole text, while the later one only includes the last 61 avadānas. In this paper, we compare and analyse two paratextual elements of the extant versions, namely, pallava-endings and prologue, in order to know how frequently the translator Shong ton Rdo rje rgyal mtshan and the redactor Zha lu lotsāva Chos skyong bzang po used these two manuscripts.

Reciting, Chanting, and Singing: The Codification of Vocal Music in Buddhist Canon Law

This article analyzes the treatment of music in Buddhist monastic life through the rules on music in Buddhist canon law (vinaya) within the six extant traditions, which are preserved in Chinese, Tibetan, Pāli, and fragmentary Sanskrit manuscripts. These texts distinguish and differentiate instrumental and vocal music, presenting song, dance, and instrumental music as a triad and further subdividing vocal music into reciting, chanting, and singing. The performance and consumption of singing is strictly prohibited. Regulations on chanting and recitation are mutually exclusive and context dependent. Chanting is required on two occasions: when one praises the Buddha’s virtues and when one performs the Tridaṇḍaka ritual. Chanting is prohibited on three other occasions: when one recites the Prātimokṣasūtra and other ordinary Buddhist texts, and when one preaches Dharma. These regulations demonstrate that text and context are decisive in determining what forms of vocal music are appropriate in Buddhist practice. The use of embellished chanting is reserved for performing rituals whose primary goal is to please divine recipients but must be prohibited when clear articulation is expected for educating the audience. Given that making or consuming vocal music is not a criminal offense, yet is strictly regulated, I argue that the establishment of Buddhist canon law was compelled by a pressing demand to demarcate and maintain a social boundary between the Buddhist monastic order and the lay community of adherents.

Ranjana Numeral System: A Brief Information

The Ranjana script, which is also known as Kutila or Lantsa, is one of the many alphabets derived from the Brahmi script. This numesmetic inscription was developed 2216 years ago, so its time period was along the 199 BC and it was popular from 11th century AD and was used until the mid-20th century in Nepal and India. It is popularly used by Nepali in the Newari language. This script also known as Lantsa, for writing the Sanskrit titles of books which have been translated from Sanskrit to Tibetan for decoration in temples and mandalas. There were few texts printed with alternating lines in Sanskrit in the Lantsa script followed by a Tibetan translation. There were many original Sanskrit manuscripts written in Lantsa preserved in Newar community in Nepal. Others were destroyed lack of its preservation. In addition, the Ranjana script was used mainly for decoration by Buddhists.Journal of the Institute of Engineering, 2017, 13(1): 221-224

Shakuntala's Storytellers: Translation and Performance in the Age of World Literature (1789–1912)

Since its first translation into English in 1789, the Sanskrit drama Abhijñānaśakuntala (The Recognition of Shakuntala) by Kalidasa has retained a place of prominence in the discipline/body of works currently identified as "world literature." Figured as the illustrative example of premodern Indian literary prowess and the foundation of the country's cultural output, The Recognition of Shakuntala has remained a staple of world literary education and criticism since the early nineteenth century. As a dramatic text, however, the play has also enjoyed a rich and diverse performance history, one that is not nearly as well documented, well studied, or well critiqued as contributive to a corresponding concept of world theatre. This essay compares William Jones's landmark translation with two pioneering theatrical productions given of the play in London: that of the Parsi Victoria Dramatic Company in 1885, and of the Elizabethan Stage Society in 1899. Drawing from a range of theatrical ephemera as well as a close reading of Jones's translation alongside the Sanskrit manuscript on which it was based, this essay argues for a fundamental difference between translation and performance as methods of production through which the canons of world literature and world theatre, respectively, are curated, by emphasizing the significance of embodiment, or the absence thereof, in constructions of universal humanism during the long nineteenth century.

The Verses in the Nidānaparivarta of the Daśabhūmikasūtra: their corrections and suggestions based on the seventh century Sanskrit manuscript

The Verses in the Nidānaparivarta of the Daśabhūmikasūtra: their corrections and suggestions based on the seventh century Sanskrit manuscript

法華経における五道と六道

Previous studies show that the Lotus Sutra adopts the concept of six destinies (ṣaḍ-gati) except the latter half of the 5th chapter (Oṣadhī-parivarta), which mentions five destinies (pañca-gati) once. But these studies neither explore related expressions concerning gatis thoroughly nor pay attention to differences among Sanskrit manuscripts and Chinese translations. In this paper, our careful research on almost all the materials related to gatis in the Lotus Sutra shows that more chapters of the sutra can be interpreted to accept the concept of five destinies.

The Indian Yogācāra Master Sthiramati and His Views on the Ālayavijñāna Concept

The paper deals with Sthiramati, a famous sixth-century commentator and master of the classical Indian Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda school of Mahāyāna thought, in the first introductory part, and with his views on the ālayavijñāna concept in the longer second part. Two of Sthiramati’s Yogācāra works have already been available in their original language long ago. In recent years, various old Sanskrit manuscripts of further works ascribed to him have been found so that now there are three original works of Sthiramati available that deal at length with the ālayavijñāna concept and other classical Yogācāra views. These are invaluable resources, which have to be studied much more carefully than up till now. At the same time, unsolved problems about Sthiramati’s identity, the works that can be safely ascribed to him, and his commentarial style have to be addressed. The second part of the article deals with his views on the ālayavijñāna concept on the basis of the three extant Sanskrit text mentioned above, namely the two commentaries Triṃśikābhāṣya and Pañcaskandhakavibhāṣā and the supercommentary Madhyāntavibhāgaṭīkā. This part is intended to be just an introductory comparative study of the pertinent sections of these texts. Therefore, special emphasis is laid on an accessible presentation of the problems involved, on referring to and summarizing earlier pertinent research, on a discussion of select terminological and doctrinal issues deemed to be particularly important, for instance, the relation to the other forms of mind, the subliminal character and objects of the ālayavijñāna and its combination with an idealistic philosophy. of the classical Indian Yogācāra-Vijñānavāda school of Mahāyāna thought, in thefirst introductory part, and with his views on the ālayavijñāna concept in the longersecond part. Two of Sthiramati’s Yogācāra works have already been available in theiroriginal language long ago. In recent years, various old Sanskrit manuscripts of furtherworks ascribed to him have been found so that now there are three original works ofSthiramati available that deal at length with the ālayavijñāna concept and otherclassical Yogācāra views. These are invaluable resources, which have to be studied muchmore carefully than up till now. At the same time, unsolved problems about Sthiramati’sidentity, the works that can be safely ascribed to him, and his commentarial style haveto be addressed. The second part of the article deals with his views on the ālayavijñānaconcept on the basis of the three extant Sanskrit text mentioned above, namely the twocommentaries Triṃśikābhāṣya and Pañcaskandhakavibhāṣā and the supercommentaryMadhyāntavibhāgaṭīkā. This part is intended to be just an introductory comparativestudy of the pertinent sections of these texts. Therefore, special emphasis is laid on anaccessible presentation of the problems involved, on referring to and summarizingearlier pertinent research, on a discussion of select terminological and doctrinal issuesdeemed to be particularly important, for instance, the relation to the other forms ofmind, the subliminal character and objects of the ālayavijñāna and its combinationwith an idealistic philosophy.

Preliminary Study: Kinetics of Oil Extraction from Sandalwood by Microwave-assisted Hydrodistillation

Sandalwood and its oil, is one of the oldest known perfume materials and has a long history (more than 4000 years) of use as mentioned in Sanskrit manuscripts. Sandalwood oil plays an important role as an export commodity in many countries and its widely used in the food, perfumery and pharmaceuticals industries. The aim of this study is to know and verify the kinetics and mechanism of microwave-assisted hydrodistillation of sandalwood based on a second-order model. In this study, microwave-assisted hydrodistillation is used to extract essential oils from sandalwood. The extraction was carried out in ten extraction cycles of 15 min to 2.5 hours. The initial extraction rate, the extraction capacity and the second-order extraction rate constant were calculated using the model. Kinetics of oil extraction from sandalwood by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation proved that the extraction process was based on the second-order extraction model as the experimentally done in three different steps. The initial extraction rate, h, was 0.0232 g L-1 min-1, the extraction capacity, CS, was 0.6015 g L-1, the second-order extraction rate constant, k, was 0.0642 L g-1 min-1 and coefficient of determination, R2, was 0.9597.

The Sanskrit Udānavarga and the Tocharian B Udānastotra: a window on the relationship between religious and popular language on the northern Silk Road

AbstractThe majority of the Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts from the northern part of the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang (China) were found in an area where the local languages Tocharian A and B were spoken. In this article, the interplay of Sanskrit, the religious language, and Tocharian, the popular language, is investigated based on the example of the relationship between the Sanskrit Udānavarga and the Tocharian B Udānastotra. To this end, a reconstruction of the text of the introduction to the Udānastotra is attempted, which forms the transition from the Udānavarga to the Udānastotra proper. It is argued that this Tocharian B text was found in otherwise Sanskrit manuscripts, which suggests that speakers of Tocharian preferred certain doctrinal texts in Sanskrit.

Preliminary study: kinetics of oil extraction from sandalwood by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation

Sandalwood and its oil, is one of the oldest known perfume materials and has a long history (more than 4000 years) of use as mentioned in Sanskrit manuscripts. Sandalwood oil plays an important role as an export commodity in many countries and its widely used in the food, perfumery and pharmaceuticals industries. The aim of this study is to know and verify the kinetics and mechanism of microwave-assisted hydrodistillation of sandalwood based on a second-order model. In this study, microwave-assisted hydrodistillation is used to extract essential oils from sandalwood. The extraction was carried out in ten extraction cycles of 15 min to 2.5 hours. The initial extraction rate, the extraction capacity and the second-order extraction rate constant were calculated using the model. Kinetics of oil extraction from sandalwood by microwave-assisted hydrodistillation proved that the extraction process was based on the second-order extraction model as the experimentally done in three different steps. The initial extraction rate, h, was 0.0232 g L-1 min-1, the extraction capacity, CS, was 0.6015 g L-1, the second-order extraction rate constant, k, was 0.0642 L g-1 min-1 and coefficient of determination, R2, was 0.9597.

TEXTO COMO MAṆḌALA: A ESTRATIGRAFIA DISCURSIVA NO GUṆAKĀRAṆḌAVYŪHASŪTRA

RESUMO Este artigo apresenta e discute alguns resultados de uma pesquisa sobre um manuscrito sânscrito budista contendo o Guṇakāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, que foi investigado por meio de uma abordagem interdisciplinar com vistas a compreender as estratégias sociorreligiosas que permearam sua gênese narrativa em um novo milieu. Os resultados apontam para uma monumentalização narrativa do texto Mahāyāna original indiano - o Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra - durante sua transposição para o contexto do budismo esotérico no Nepal. Por meio de um número crescente de molduras concêntricas, a retórica cronológica e soteriológica do sūtra adquiriu uma transcendência discursiva que o transformou num maṇḍala textual, i.e., ele possui uma dimensão estrutural diretamente associada aos cosmogramas sagrados que permeiam os diferentes contextos dessa região.