The DOI matches its Crossref record; 6 of the 6 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 30 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Some Features of the language of the Saddharmapundarīkasūtra
Overview
CoChat Summary
TL;DR
The paper argues that the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra was originally transmitted in a Middle Indic–cum–Sanskrit language containing Eastern dialect forms, which later manuscripts gradually Sanskritised. It uses the Lüshun fragments and manuscript discrepancies to recover older Middle Indic readings behind the extant Nepalese, Gilgit, and Central Asian versions.
Key findings
- The Lüshun fragments, dated paleographically to the fifth or sixth century, are older than the extant Nepalese MSS (not earlier than the eleventh century), Gilgit MSS (not earlier than the seventh century), and the Kashgar Manuscript (later than the ninth century), and they preserve Middle Indic forms in prose as well as verses.
- Examples include vocative plural *bhikṣave* for Classical Sanskrit *bhikṣavaḥ*; *sādyathā* / *syādyathā* for *tad yathā*; *tāyām velāyām* for *tasyām velāyām*; *dīrṇa* for *datta*; *tāvatrīśa* for *trāyastriṃśa*; and *bhāpa* for *tāta*.
- Discrepancies among later manuscripts reveal underlying Middle Indic forms, e.g. *khalu* / *bho* / *ho*, *ārya* / *adya*, *prasthita* / *prārthita*, *sūkṣma* / *sumukha*, *mama* / *mahat*, *ugra* / *durga*, and at least seventeen instances of *jñāna* / *yāna*.
- The paper concludes that instrumental, dative-ablative, and locative plural endings merged in Middle Indic as *-ehi* (fem. *-āhi*), explaining widespread manuscript confusion among *-ebhis*, *-ebhyas*, and *-eṣu*; it also suggests Mahāyānist terms like *buddha-yāna* and *mahāyāna* originally meant *buddha-jñāna* and *mahājñāna*.
Methods
- Philological and textual-critical comparison of Sanskrit manuscripts and fragments of the Lotus Sutra, including the Lüshun fragments, Nepalese, Gilgit, Kashgar, Farhād-Bēg, Hoernle, and other Central Asian manuscript readings.
- The analysis collates variant readings against Pāli, Ardhamāgadhī, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, and other Middle Indic parallels, and occasionally cites Chinese translations to support interpretations.
- Main analysis identifies Middle Indic forms, hyper-Sanskritisms, and back-formations in order to reconstruct earlier stages of the text’s transmission.
Limitations
- The paper states that for the tenth verse of the Tathāgatāyuspramāṇaparivarta, the Kashgar manuscript and other Central Asian fragments are lacking, which limits the manuscript evidence there.
- It also states that for *sūkṣma* versus *sumukha*, it is “rather difficult to tell” which reading is closer to the original.
- Evident from the text: many conclusions are explicitly framed as assumptions or presumptions (“I assume,” “presumably”) and depend on reconstructed Middle Indic forms, so the reconstructions are not presented as fully certain.
Model-written summary. Check it against the paper before relying on it.
Integrity signals
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Verification
Claims the paper makes
0 Valid · 1 Not valid · 25 Not checked · 66 Own results and interpretations
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“The only voc. pl. of the Skt. bhiks. u, which apppears in the Nepalese, Gilgit and the Kashgar MSS., is the Classical Sanskrit form bhiks. avah.”
§ 1. MIDDLE INDIC FORMS FOUND IN THE > 1.1. bhiks.ave (voc. pl.)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“For example, where other manuscripts read tad yathā (”
§ 208 SEISHI KARASHIMA > 1.2. sād-yathā, syād-yathā
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“It must be pointed out that the above cited occurrences of bhiks. ave are all from the prose parts.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“whereas in the Lüshun fragments the form bhiks. ave is predominantly seen.”
§ 1. MIDDLE INDIC FORMS FOUND IN THE > 1.1. bhiks.ave (voc. pl.)
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In the Sanskrit fragments of the Central Asian manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra, preserved in the Lüshun Museum (abbr. Lü), of which photographs along with its transcription have been recently published by Prof. Jiang, we find some peculiar forms in prose parts as well as in verses.”
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
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Citations
Cites
Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary
Edgerton, F. (1953) · Zenodo · doi:10.5281/zenodo.1157797 · Cited by 152
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens
Asiens, I. F. K. U. G., & Wien, U. (2005) · Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens · doi:10.1553/wzks · Cited by 42
Geiger, W. (1916) · doi:10.1515/9783111563916 · Cited by 38
Boucher, D. (1998) · Journal of the American Oriental Society · doi:10.2307/604783 · Cited by 36
Buddhistische Stotras aus ostturkistanischen Sanskrittexten
Schlingloff, D. (1955) · doi:10.1515/9783112766279 · Cited by 8
Das Pacchittasutta und die Susaḍhakahā. Kapitel 7 und 8 des Mahānisīha
Schubring, W. (1951) · Studien zum Mahanisiha. Kapitel 6–8 · doi:10.1515/9783111707693-002
Research works printed but not linked: 26
- Bloch, Jules: 1965, Indo-Aryan from the Vedas to Modern Times. English Edition Largely Revised by the Author and Translated by Alfred Master, Paris.
- Brough, John: 1962, The Gāndhārī Dharmapada. London (London Oriental Series, vol. 7).
- Caillat, Colette: 1982, Notes sur les variantes grammaticales dans la tradition du Dasaveyāliya-sutta. In L. A.Hercus et al., eds., Indological and Buddhist Studies, Volume in Honour of Professor J. W. de Jong on his Sixtieth Birthday. Canberra, pp. 69-94.
- Caillat, Colette: 1983, The Recent Critical Editions of the Jain Āgama. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Suppl. V: 234-240.
- Dschi, Hiän-lin: 1944, Die Umwandlung der Endung -am. in -o und -u im Mittelindischen. Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Phil.-Hist. Klasse. Nr. 6: 121-144. = Ji 1982: 188-222.
- Geiger / Norman: 1994, A Pāli Grammar, by Wilhelm Geiger, translated into English by Batakrishna Ghosh, revised and edited by K. R. Norman. Oxford: PTS.
- Ghatage, A. M.: 1937, Instrumental and Locative in Ardha-Māgadhī. Indian Historical Quarterly 13: 52-58.
- Hinüber, Oskar von: 1982, A New Fragmentary Gilgit Manuscript of the Saddharmapundarīkasūtra. Tokyo: The Reiyukai.
- Hoernle, A. F. Rudolf: 1916, Manuscript Remains of Buddhist Literature Found in Eastern Turkestan, ed. by A.F. Rudolf Hoernle. Oxford.
- Ji Xian-lin: 1982, Yìndù Gŭdàiyŭyán Lùnjí [Collected Papers on Ancient Indian Languages], Beijing (Zhōngguóshèhuìkēxué Chūbănshè).
- Jiang, Zhongxin: 1997, Sanskrit Lotus Sutra Fragments from the Lüshun Museum Collection, Facsimile Edition and Romanized Text, ed. by Jiang Zhongxin, Dalian and Tokyo 1997 (Lüshun Museum and Soka Gakkai).
- Karashima, Seishi: 1991, "Făhuājīng zhāng de Shèng(yāna) yŭ Zhìhuì(jñāna)" [Vehicle (yāna) andWisdom (jñāna) in the Lotus Sūtra]. In Li Zheng et al., eds., Papers in Honour of Prof. Dr. Ji Xianlin on the Occasion of his 80th Birthday (I). Nanchang, pp. 607-643.
- Karashima, Seishi: 1993, "HokekyŌ ni okeru jŌ (yāna) to chie (jñāna)-DaijŌ BukkyŌ ni okeru yāna no gainen no kigen ni tuite" [Vehicle (yāna) and Wisdom (jñāna) in the Lotus Sťtra-On the Origin of the Concept of Yāna inMahāyāna Buddhism]. In R. Taga, ed., HokekyŌ no JuyŌ to Tenkai [The Acceptance and Development of the Lotus Sutra]. Kyoto, pp. 137-197.
- Kern, H.: 1884, The Saddharmapundarīka or the Lotus of the True Law, Oxford (= The Sacred Books of the East Series, vol. 21) (repr. 1965, 1980, Delhi).
- Mehendale, M. A.: 1955-1956, Some Remarks on the Language of the Original Buddhist Canon. Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute 17: 157-171.
- Norman, K. R.: 1969, The Elders' Verses I, Theragāthā. London (The Pali Text Society).
- Norman, K. R.: 1977, Kāvilīyam.: A Metrical Analysis of the Eighth Chapter of the Uttarādhyayana-sťtra. In Mahāvīra and His Teachings, Bombay, pp. 9-19 (= Norman 1991: 9-19).
- Norman, K. R.: 1991, Collected Papers II. Oxford (The Pali Text Society).
- Norman, K. R.: 1993, Collected Papers IV. Oxford (The Pali Text Society).
- Norman, K. R.: 1995, The Group of Discourses (Sutta-Nipāta), volume II, revised translation with introduction and notes, Oxford, Pali Text Society (Pali Text Society Translation Series No. 45).
- Norman, K. R.: 1997, A Philological Approach to Buddhism: the BukkyŌ DendŌ KyŌkai Lectures 1994, London: School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London (The Buddhist Forum; v. 5).
- Pischel, Richard: 1900, Grammatik der Prakrit-Sprachen. Strassburg. Patna Dharmapada =Margaret Cone "Patna Dharmapada. Part I: Text". Journal of the Pali Text Society, XIII (1989): 101-217.
- Roth, Gustav: 1966, "Bhiksunīvinaya and Bhiksu-prakīrnaka and Notes on the Language", in: Journal of the Bihar Reseach Society 52: 29-51.
- Salomon, Richard: 1999, Ancient Buddhist Scrolls from Gandhāra: the British Library Kharosthī Fragments. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
- Toda, Hirofumi: 1988, Central Asian Fragments of the Hoernle Collection, Romanized Text. Tokushima Daigaku KyŌyŌbu Rinri Gakka KiyŌ [Proceedings of the Department of Ethics, Faculty of Liberal Arts, University of Tokushima] 15: 20-23.
- Vaidya, P. L.: 1934, A Manual of Ardhamāgadhī Grammar for the Use of University Students, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Poona.
Cited by
“Buddhism for Chinese Readers”: Zhi Qian’s Literary Refinements in the Foshuo pusa benye jing
Han, J., Hwang, S., & Lee, H. (2021) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel12050361 · Cited by 2
“W s the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpār mitā Compiled in Gandhāra in Gāndhārī?”
BackgroundInfluentialFurther Reflections on Zhi Qian’s Foshuo Pusa Benye Jing: Some Terminological Questions
Han, J., Hwang, S., Lee, H., et al. (2021) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel12080634 · Cited by 1
“To this end, we partly rely on Karashima’s insightful studies on early Chinese Buddhist translations (e.g., Karashima 2001, 2013a, 2013b, 2016), the results of which can be roughly summarised as follows: (1) Zhi Qian’s translation procedure can be described as “sinicising” already-existing…”
Method
Metadata
- Authors
- Karashima, S.
- Corresponding author
- Karashima, Seishi
- Venue
- Indo-Iranian Journal
- Publisher
- Walter de Gruyter GmbH
- Published
- 2001-09
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 207-230
- ISSN
- 0019-7246 (ISSN-L)
- 1572-8536
- OpenAlex
- W4249759740
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 4
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining (tdm)
- www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/text-and-data-mining (vor)
- Locations
- Indo-Iranian Journal (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Classical Studies and Philology
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Language and Linguistics › Linguistics and language evolution
- Keywords
- Saddharmapundarika Sutra, Prajñāpāramitā literature, Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhist sutras, Sanskrit
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