On the Satasahasrika Prajnaparamita Manuscripts Preserved in Japan

Abstract

This is an analytical study of the Sanskrit manuscripts of the śatasahasrikā Prajñpāramitā (SP) – the largest available Prajñpāramitā-sūtra – preserved in university libraries in Japan. Of this huge work, only two parts have been published so far, i.e. Prajñpāramitā (Pratāpacandra Ghosha, 1902) and a part of the Dvitīya-khanda (Takayasu Kimura, 2009 – 2014). The remaining larger part is still available in MSS form. Even the published portions are not critical editions. Hence, this study focuses on examining the nature of available material for the restoration of SP in its original form. A very rare leaf MS of the Dvitīya-khanda of SP is preserved in the library of the Faculty of Letters of the Kyushu University in Western Japan. This MS (Q) is considered to be the oldest available source of all MSS of SP. One paper MS (K) is preserved in the Kyoto University library while two more paper MSS (T1 and T2) are preserved in the Tokyo University library. When these four MSS are compared with the Chinese and Tibetan versions, the text of Q is proved to be more accurate. K, T1 and T2 contain the entire text of SP, yet need to be edited in the light of older texts of Q and Lhasa MS (L) (available at Beijing University). In the restoration of SP that represent a significant phase of the development of Buddhist Thought and expansion of Buddhist literature in Sanskrit (prior to translation into Chinese and Tibetan), we need to establish the historicity of the available material on philological basis. The results of an initial investigation are presented here for careful perusal and constructive comments.