A 29

Known as:	A 29; THT 662
Cite this page as:	Gerd Carling; Georges-Jean Pinault; Melanie Malzahn; Michaël Peyrot. "A 29". 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-a29 (accessed 15 May 2026).
Edition
Editor:	Gerd Carling; Georges-Jean Pinault; Melanie Malzahn; Michaël Peyrot
Date of online publication:	2012-11-02
Provenience
Main find spot:	Shorchuk
Specific find spot:	Stadthöhle
Expedition code:	T III Š 68.02
Collection:	Berlin Turfan Collection
Language and Script
Language:	TA
Script:	classical
Text contents
Title of the work:	The sea monster Timitimiṅgila and the 500 merchants
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Jātaka/Avadāna
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Meter:	5555 (1x), 444343 (1x), 55 (1x), 4443 (1x)
Object
Manuscript:	A 1-54
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	6

Transliteration

lf	20
lf1	20
a1	le ca¯ ¯m yā mlu ne ya śä ltā s·āṃ ///
a2	draṃ s̝pa tka¯ ¯nt ku rsa rwā ka pśiṃ ño ///
a3	mbu dvi pṣi ñi pa ñka¯ ¯nt ○ (·)[u] ///
a4	ṣo pa rtā sā wä¯ ¯l ti mi ○ ti ///
a5	ntu ca mi ṣu ṅka¯ ¯cä yu lā yw«†i»«a» tsī o ///
a6	[tt]e naṃ \|\| pa lkā¯ ¯cä pa lkā ckraṃ¯ ¯śä tseṃ e – ///
b1	rwa ryä ṣmā tā reṃ pu ṅkaṃ pa lkā cmā tā rtā¯ – ///
b2	¯ṅk pna s̝s̝aṃ : 1 mā ñi cä mplu ne o lyi[¯] [¯k] ///
b3	pñi ntu kuṣā nti pyā mtsā¯ ¯cä ○ ā ///
b4	ṣtra : wla lu ne ṣiṃ ṣu ṅk ○ aṃ – ///
b5	ñä kta śśi ptā ñka¯ ¯t ā rki śo ṣyaṃ k·· ///
b6	nta ne ne ja mbu dvi¯ ¯p ta mne yā ā ñcā ///

20 20

*	(sma)¬
a1	¬le cam yāmluneyaśäl tās(km)āṃ /// (sāmu)¬
a2	¬draṃ ṣpät känt kursärwā kapśiṃño /// (ja)¬
a3	¬mbudvipṣiñi päñ-känt (k)u(ryartāñ) ///
a4	ṣopärtāsā wäl timiti(miṅgil) ///
a5	n1 ntu cami ṣuṅkac yulā ywatsī o(sānt) /// (devada)¬
a6	¬ttenaṃ n2 ॥

1a	pälkāc pälkāc kraṃś ; tseṃ e /// 13σ
1b	8σ ; – (ā)b1rwar n3 n4 yäṣ ; mātāreṃ ; {p→ṣ}uṅkaṃ pälkāc ; mātār tā – 0σ
1c	/// 10σ
1d	12σ ; (ṣu)b2ṅk pnäṣṣ-äṃ : 1
2a	mā ñi cämplune ; olyi-k /// 3σ ; 10σ
2b	6σ b3n5 pñintu ; k_uṣānti pyāmtsāc ; ā(rwar) – ; /// 7σ
2c	9σ b4ṣträ :
2d	wlaluneṣiṃ ; ṣuṅkaṃ – – ; /// 7σ

b5	ñäktaśśi ptāñkät ārkiśoṣyaṃ k·· /// (ä)¬
b6	¬ntane-ne jambudvip tämne yā āñcā(li) ///

a1	... comparable to the doing of this lie ...
a1+	... in the (oce)an with a body [of] 700 miles [in length] (a monster was living) ...
a2+	... 500 merchants of the Jambudvīpa ...
a3+	... with ... (pl.) the king ... [the sea monster] Timitimiṅgila ...
a4+	... (the vessels?) began to incline towards its [gaping] mouth. ...
a5+	... In [the tune] (Devada)tta:
a6	Look, look, o good ones!
a6	Blue ...
a6+	... (this ship?) is ready to go into the [gaping] mouth of the sea monster.
b1	Behold the monster! ...
b1+	... its mouth is [wide] open (?)
b2	It is not in my power (to stop) this ship indeed ...
b2+	... (if you have accumulated) merits, ask for forgiveness!
b3	R(eady?) ...
b4	... in the mouth of death ...
b5	... the Buddha-god of gods in the world ...
b5+	... Where the Jambudvīpa [is], there he went, (having made the) añjali [gesture] ...

*	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 including the whole string hole covering lines 3 and 4. The leaf number 20 is also written inside the string hole by another hand. Note that very often in this manuscripts a number written inside the verso-side string hole deviates from the leaf number on the margin.

*	Mahāvastu, vol. I, 245, transl. 200-201

*	This text is a version of the story about the sea monster Timitimiṅgila and the 500 merchants; for the name cf. Edgerton 1953: 253a.
*	We probably can identify the tune devadatte*, which has 20\|22\|10\|15 (a: 5/5/5/5, b: 8/7/7, c: 5/5, d: 8/7).
n1	ywatsī has been corrected from ywitsī.
n2	There are 23 syllables lost in the lacuna, since every line should have ca. 32 akṣaras.
n3	Line b1 begins with the 11th syllable of pāda 1b.
n4	At the end one may read tāk 'it was' if one admits that here the normal sign ‹ka› is used and not the usual fremdzeichen ‹ka› in virama position.
n5	The line begins with the 7th syllable of pāda 2b.