A 258
| Known as: | A 258; THT 891 |
|---|---|
| Cite this page as: | Gerd Carling; Georges-Jean Pinault. "A 258". In A Comprehensive Edition of Tocharian Manuscripts (CEToM). Created and maintained by Melanie Malzahn, Martin Braun, Hannes A. Fellner, and Bernhard Koller. https://cetom.univie.ac.at/?m-a258 (accessed 07 Dec. 2025). |
Edition | |
| Editor: | Gerd Carling; Georges-Jean Pinault |
| Date of online publication: | 2016-09-22 |
Provenience | |
| Main find spot: | Shorchuk |
| Specific find spot: | Stadthöhle |
| Expedition code: | T III Š 92.38 |
| Collection: | Berlin Turfan Collection |
Language and Script | |
| Language: | TA |
| Script: | late |
Text contents | |
| Title of the work: | Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka |
| Passage: | Act 26 and 27 |
| Text genre: | Literary |
| Text subgenre: | Drama |
| Verse/Prose: | prose; verse |
| Meter: | 444 (4x); 543 (4x) |
Object | |
| Manuscript: | M-β |
| Material: | ink on paper |
| Form: | Poṭhī |
| Number of lines: | 8 |
Transliteration
| a3 | /// ·ñ· kta sna peṃ sa cka lk·¯ ¯nt /// |
|---|---|
| a4 | /// lu ne ṣiṃ ra ta¯ ¯k • ka rwā ṣi wa ṣtto ki o ṅka la¯ ¯m : 1 ku – – – s̝ma /// |
| a5 | /// ¯k • klo pi¯ ¯s ā kā yä¯ ¯ṣ : 2 || sā mwa śeṃ po ñcäṃ tri wä ltse· ā rki śo ṣṣaṃ klyo sna s̝ta¯ ¯r – – – – – – |
| a6 | /// śā waṃ kā swo ne ytwaṃ ri twa ntra tma ṣto¯ ¯m swā ñce nā¯ ¯ñä wtā kka mpo nāṃ tsu ra¯ ¯s̝ me tra kaṃ ptā ñka – – – |
| a7 | /// [tka] ṣṣi siṃ heṃ lā¯ ¯nt kā kku ra s̝tra ṅka s̝pa ṣta¯ ¯m pa ṣta mse || cha nna ka ni va rtnaṃ || tā tṣa kka tstu ta nā – |
| a8 | /// śā kya mu ni ño mā ta mne wä knā ka kmu : ā ṣā ni kpu kma rka mpa lntu ka rso ptā ñka¯ ¯t : 1 || tma ṣsiṃ he wä¯ ¯l |
| b1 | /// yo pā pla ntu pa lsku¯ ¯m tka na ṣkā ka tku ā ñcā li tsa ra nyo me tra kyā ppeṃ wa wiṃ ṣu ra¯ ¯s̝ wa s̝ta s̝la ñclu |
| b2 | /// ¯s̝ tsko ra ṣwa sa mpā tya s̝aṃ || tma ṣsiṃ he wä¯ ¯l ṣā maṃ nāṃ tsu ka ksu¯ ¯nt wso kaṃ i ndri syo pā pṣu ne k·a ṣ· |
| b3 | /// rśe ssā kā lā vai bhā ṣi kyā¯ ¯p ā rya ca ndre sra ri twu mai tre ya sa mi ti nā ṭkaṃ siṃ ha vyā ka [ra]ṃ – – – |
| b4 | /// ka ptā ñka¯ ¯t lyu krā sa rki pu tti śpa rṣi nā¯ ¯s wle sa¯ ¯nt wle smāṃ ñä kta saṃ ta tmu sāṃ bra h·ā – – – – – |
| b5 | /// bra hmā yu pā ca rśa śä lpu ñi saṃ sā ra¯ ¯s̝ : tsa lpa ṣlyi [t]ā – – hmā va ·i /// |
| b6 | /// ·i ñi : 1 || tma ṣme tra¯ ¯k ptā ñ /// |
Transcription
| a3 | /// ·ñ(ä)ktas napeṃsac kälk(o)nt (swāñcenāsaṃ) /// |
|---|---|
| a4 | (posāc) (pälcäs) (•) (pritwäs) (ptāñäkte) (enäṣluneyaṃ) (•) (ptäpsäs) (wla)luneṣiṃ ratäk • kärwāṣi waṣtt oki oṅkaläm : 1 ku(s) (ne) (nu) (ca)ṣ mä(rkampalṣi) (enäṣluneyaṃ) |
| a5 | (sne) (ykorñe) (tāṣ) (•) (wawikuräṣ) (cmolwāṣiṃ) (sar)k • klopis ākā yäṣ : 2 ॥ sām waśeṃ poñcäṃ tri wältse(ṃ) ārkiśoṣṣaṃ klyosnäṣtär – – – – – – |
| a6 | /// śāwaṃ kāswoneytwaṃ ritwanträ tmäṣ tom swāñcenāñ wtā-k kämpo nāṃtsuräṣ metrakäṃ ptāñkä(t) (käṣyāp) |
| a7 | /// (metrak) (ptāñkä)t käṣṣi siṃheṃ lānt kākkuräṣ träṅkäṣ päṣtam päṣtam se ॥ channakanivartnaṃ ॥ |
| 1a | tāt ṣakk ats tu ; tanā (sä)a8(rki) ; 4σ |
|---|---|
| 1b | 12σ /// (:) |
| 1c | śākyamuni ; ñomā tämne ; wäknā kakmu : |
| 1d | āṣānik puk ; märkampalntu ; kärso ptāñkät : 1 ॥ |
| * | tmäṣ siṃhe wäl |
|---|---|
| b1 | /// yo pāpläntu pälskum tkanäṣ kākätku āñcāli tsaränyo meträkyāp peṃ wawiṃṣuräṣ waṣtäṣ läñclu¬ |
| b2 | ¬(neyac) (ārwar) (mäskatär) /// (waṣtä)ṣ tskoräṣ wasämpāt yaṣ-äṃ ॥ tmäṣ siṃhe wäl ṣāmaṃ nāṃtsu kaksunt wsokaṃ indrisyo pāpṣune k(n)ä{ṣ→s}(si) |
| b3 | /// (säs) (postäk) (kulmäs) (o)rśess ākālā vaibhāṣikyāp āryacandres raritwu maitreyasamiti nāṭkaṃ siṃhavyākaraṃ (ñomā) (wi)¬ |
| b4 | ¬(kiṣäkpint)n1 /// (nipāt) (ār) (॥) (tmäṣ) (āṣānik) (metra)k{†ä} ptāñkät lyukrā särki puttiśparṣinās wlesant wlesmāṃ ñäktasaṃ tatmusāṃ brah(m)ā(vati) (mācrac) – – |
| b5 | n1 /// |
| 1b | brahmāyu pācar ; śaśälpu ñi ; saṃsāräṣ : |
|---|---|
| 1c | tsälpäṣlyi tā(ṣ-ñi) ; (bra)hmāva(t)i ; (mācar) /// 1σ |
| 1d | b6 9σ /// ; (tsälp)i-ñi : 1 ॥ |
| * | tmäṣ metrak ptāñ(kät) /// |
|---|
Translation
| a3 | ... in the rays that have gone to the gods and the people, ... |
|---|---|
| a4 | || Rise up! |
| a4 | Go out! |
| a4 | Join the instruction of the Buddha! |
| a4 | Shake off the army of death, like an elephant (shakes) a bamboo hut! |
| a4 | 1. |
| a4+ | And who in this (instruction pertaining to the) Law (will not be negligent, he, having left the circle of births,) will go to the end of suffering. |
| a5 | 2. || |
| a5 | This voice is heard all over the three-thousand-fold world ... |
| a6 | they attach themselves to the great good deeds. |
| a6+ | Thereupon these rays, having united a second time, (surround the head of?) the Buddha-god Maitreya, the master, (and enter his Uṣṇīṣa) |
| a7 | (Then) Maitreya, the Buddha-god, having called the king Siṃha, says: |
| a7 | Get up, get up, my son! |
| a7 | || In the Chandakavartana-tune:|| |
| a7+ | You will surely afterwards (appear in the world) ... as the Tathāgata named Śākyamuni, as a venerable Buddha-god, who has understood all Dharmas. |
| a8 | 1 || |
| a8+ | Then the king Siṃha, having (joyful) thoughts (like a poor man, who) is pleased by (a treasure), having risen upright from the earth, having, with his both hands in Añjali, worshipped the two feet of Maitreya, ...(is ready) to go from the house. |
| b2 | (Thereupon the Buddha god Maitreya, the master), having drawn him (from the house), performs the ordination for him. || |
| b2+ | Thereupon the king Siṃha, having become a monk, in order to make his observance real with his extinguished happy senses... /// |
| b3 | /// Upon the wish of (Kulmäs O)rś (this book has) been composed by the Vaibhāṣika Āryacandra. |
| b3+ | In the Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka (the twenty-sixth act entitled) Siṃha-vyākaraṇa has come to an end. || |
| b4 | Then the venerable Buddha-god Maitreya, observing the tasks of Buddha-hood to the very end, (remembers himself) his mother Brahmāvatī, who was reborn among the gods: |
| b4+ | ( || In the ...-tune: || ) |
| b5 | ... My father Brahmāyu has been released from the Saṃsāra by me. |
| b5 | My (mother) Brahmāvatī is (still) to be released (by me). |
| b5+ | ... may she wish to be released by me! : |
| b6 | 1. || |
| b6 | Thereupon the Buddha-god Maitreya... |
Other
| a5 | Die Stimme wird in der ganzen dreitausendfachen Welt gehört. (Schmidt 1974: 81, 219) |
|---|---|
| a7 | You will certainly appear (in the world) hereafter. (cf 73–74) (Peyrot 2013b: 228) |
Commentary
Remarks
| Transcription and references have been transferred from the "Text and Reference Database of the Tocharian A Language" (Gerd Carling Lund University) (funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation and SCAS). | |
| Transcription and translation are based on Carling et al. 2009. | |
| Fragment of a manuscript which includes A 251 - A 294 (cf. Geng et al. 2004a: 64-5). The fragment is badly damaged, only the left half of the leaf remains. The original leaf must have been remarkably long, with about 50 syllables in line 8a. Lines a1-2 and b7-8 are lost. | |
| The fragment contains the end of act 26 with the colophon and the beginning of act 27. | |
| The translation and commentary for this fragment can be found in Geng et al. 2004a: 73-75. |
Parallel texts
| MaitrSiŋgim, Taf. 185, 88; MaitrHami 27, 1r |
Philological commentary
| This fragment contains the end of the twenty-sixth and the beginning of the twenty-seventh act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; the colophon of act 26 is in line b3. Uy. parallels are MaitrSiŋgim, Leaf 13 = Taf. 88v (for A 258r), and Taf. 185r f. (Tekin 1980: 217) for the end of act XXVI (= MaitrHami 26, Blatt 13v), as well as MaitrHami 27, Blatt 8, 1r for the beginning of act 27. See Pinault 1999: 204 and Geng et al. 2004a: 73f. | |
| The Udānavarga verses (Uv IV.37-38) in lines a4-5 are also to be found in A 354 b5-6, and are parallel to MaitrSiŋgim Taf. 88 v.1-17. King Simha's future Buddha-hood is prophesied in line 8a here, as in MaitrSiŋgim Blatt 14. | |
| In the TA text here, there is a gap of 4+12 syllables at the beginning of line 8a, containing the end of pāda a, and pāda b of this strophe; there is another gap in b5, which must contain the name of a tune, most likely a strophe of 4x12 syllables, rhythm 5/7. The tune Chandakavartana in line a7 has the same length and rhythm (cf. Geng et al. 2004a: 75, fn. 179, 181). | |
| In the colophon a man named Kulmäs Orś is mentioned as the donor or patron of the manuscript. The same name is mentioned in A 252 b6. Geng et al. 2004a assume that the family of this dignitary were natives of Agni (Yanqi) (see also Schmidt 2002a: 263). | |
| n1 | The tune name has been lost. The meter is 4x12 (5/7). |
References
Online access
Edition
Sieg and Siegling 1921: 133-134; Geng et al. 2004a: 73f; Sieg and Siegling 1921 p. 133, p. 134
Translations
Carling 2000: a3 (230), b4 (232); Geng et al. 2004a: a3 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8 b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 (73f); Hackstein 1995: a5 (320); Knoll 1996: a6 (29); Kölver 1965: b5 (142); Peyrot 2013b: a5 (621), a7 (228); Schmidt 1974: a5 (81, 219); Thomas 1957: b5 (263); Thomas 1968: a4 (213), a4 (218); Thomas 1983: a3 (22)
Bibliography
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