A 28

Known as:	A 28; THT 661
Cite this page as:	Gerd Carling; Georges-Jean Pinault; Melanie Malzahn; Michaël Peyrot. "A 28". 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-a28 (accessed 14 Jun. 2026).
Edition
Editor:	Gerd Carling; Georges-Jean Pinault; Melanie Malzahn; Michaël Peyrot
Date of online publication:	2012-10-31
Provenience
Main find spot:	Shorchuk
Specific find spot:	Stadthöhle
Expedition code:	T III Š 92.01
Collection:	Berlin Turfan Collection
Language and Script
Language:	TA
Script:	classical
Text contents
Title of the work:	Unknown Avadāna
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Jātaka/Avadāna
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Object
Manuscript:	A 1-54
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	6

Transliteration

lf	10 ///
a3	(– –) – (–) – m(·) ka (·)[l](·) ○ ///
a4	[p](·) r[a] tta¯ ¯m : ka rṣto ra¯ ¯s̝ ○ (·)[ñ](·) ///
a5	ktu se ñcäṃ • sa mne ṣnā kṣā¯ ¯t kā ṣi ññ[ā] ///
a6	re yaṃ : ṣu ṅka ṣpo ryo tsa kna s̝ta rtsā ///
b1	ña re yntwaṃ : 1 \|\| pa rsko¯ ¯nt a kma lyo śri ///
b2	rsa rwā yo kucā e s̝a kne u pā dhyā ca – ///
b3	ñ·ä¯ ¯s̝ po ṣi ta¯ ¯s̝ we ○ [ñe] ///
b4	(– – – –) [m]·[ā] rṣe ·e ○ ///

10 ///

a3	– – – – – m· kä·l· ///
a4	p(o)rat täm : kärṣtoräṣ (m)ñ(e) ///
a5	n1 k tuseñc-äṃ • säm neṣ nākṣāt kāṣiññā(t) /// (ña)¬
a6	¬reyaṃ n2 : ṣuṅkäṣ poryo tsäknäṣtär tsā ///
b1	n3 ñareyntwaṃ : 1 ॥ pärskont akmalyo śri /// (ku)¬
b2	¬rsärwāyo n4 n5 k_ucā-eṣäk-ne upādhyā ca – ///
b3	n6 ñ·äṣ poṣi täṣ weñe(ñc) ///
b4	n7 – – – – m·ārṣe ·e ///

a3+	... the ax ... that.
a4	Having cut off the ho(pe) ...
a4+	... they kindle him/it.
a5	Previously this one blamed
a5	[and] scolded (others) ...
a5+	... in the (hell) ... From the throat by means of fire he burns
a6	[and] (he is stabbed?) ...
a6+	... in the hells.
b1	With fearful face NN ...
b1+	... over [very] many miles, over which the teacher ... th(is) ...
b2+	... from the (body?) this [is] the side/surface, (they) will say ...
b3+	...

a5	Früher tadelte [und] schalt er ... (Schmidt 1974: 172)

*	Transcription and translation are based on Carling et al. 2009.
*	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).
*	The left part of a leaf with rest of the string hole space covering lines 3 and 4; lines a1-2 and b5-6 are lost.

n1	ktuseñc-äṃ is rather not a 3.pl. present from the root katw- 'to ridicule', but an s-present from the root 'to kindle'.
n2	tsā is probably the beginning of a present form of 'to pierce'. The visible remains of the following sign speaks in favor of that.
n3	śri is most likely the beginning of a proper name.
n5	ca is probably caṣ; the last akṣara is a complex ligatura, probably with a vowel u.
n6	Below the ñ of ñäṣ may be another sign, which could be a) c making it a 3.sg. verbal form (lä)ñcäṣ, or b) ñ, in which case we would have (kapśi)ñ(ñ)äṣ 'from the body'. A possible restoration for weñe would be a form of the subjunctive of weñ- or the form has to be separated differently into we ñe(mi?), though the latter is not very likely.
n7	Segmentation uncertain.

n4	The use of the instr. with kursär possibly indicates a huge distance; cf. Carling 2000: 28.