A 400

Known as:	A 400; THT 1034
Cite this page as:	Gerd Carling (text); Michaël Peyrot (translation commentary). "A 400". 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-a400 (accessed 14 Jun. 2026).
Edition
Editor:	Gerd Carling (text); Michaël Peyrot (translation commentary)
Provenience
Main find spot:	Sengim
Expedition code:	T II S 19.06
Collection:	Berlin Turfan Collection
Language and Script
Language:	TA
Script:	classical
Text contents
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Jātaka/Avadāna
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Object
Manuscript:	A 399-404
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	7

Transliteration

a1	/// rcwa tra[ṃ] – (– – – –) ṅka¯ ¯s̝ : ptā ñka tka ṣṣi ///
a2	/// [¯k] wa ltsu – – kṣ· ña mci \|\| ta ru ṇa di vā k· ///
a3	/// – [¯s̝] wä tkā¯ ¯lts ta s̝pa kra¯ ¯s • u [m]· ///
a4	/// lya lypu ri sso ko yā tseṃ o ///
a5	/// wi ku ma ska ta¯ ¯r \|\| ā ka ///
a6	/// ṣ[ā] mi kā ñtā ke¯ ¯ñcä tka ni to¯ ¯p trā¯ ¯ṅk kl· ///
a7	/// to¯ ¯p trā¯ ¯ṅk tka ni nkaṃ saṃ tra • lyā kaṃ kā s[we] ///
b1	/// [k]a wra sa śśi wä rpā laṃ : 1 \|\| ā ka ls̝a¯ ¯l tra ṅ(·)· ///
b2	/// na slu ne yu¯ ¯m na sa¯ ¯m mā yā ta ṣñi lyä ///
b3	/// ta kṣiṃ ma sa¯ ¯k tra ṅktsi klyi ntra ///
b4	/// ¯t \|\| pa ṇḍu [rā] ṅkaṃ ///
b5	/// – k· cne lyo ckwā tā ///
b6	/// thā dī na va – – sa ni rde śaṃ pai ///
b7	/// kula pa k· – – – ·ā hkh· ś·i ///

Transcription

a1	n1 /// (spa)rcwatr-äṃ – – – – (trä)ṅkäṣ : ptāñkät käṣṣi ///
a2	n2 n3 /// k waltsu(rā) (ā)kṣ(i)ñam-ci ॥ taruṇadivāk(araṃ) (॥) ///
a3	/// – ṣ wätkālts täṣ päkras • um(par) ///
a4	n4 /// lyalypuriss okoyā tseṃ-o(ppalṣi) ///
a5	/// (wa)wiku mäskatär ॥ ākä(lṣäl) ///
a6	n5 /// ṣāmikāñ tākeñc tkani top trāṅk kl· ///
a7	n5 /// top trāṅk tkani nkäṃsaṃträ • lyāka-ṃ kāswe ///
b1	/// (pu)k{†ä} wrasaśśi wärpālaṃ : 1 ॥ ākälṣäl träṅ(käṣ) ///
b2	/// nasluneyum nasam mā yātaṣ-ñi lyä ///
b3	/// (jā)takṣiṃ masäk träṅktsi klyinträ ///
b4	n6 n7 /// t ॥ paṇḍurāṅkaṃ (॥) ///
b5	n7 n8 /// – k(u)cne lyockwā tā ///
b6	n8 /// thādīnava – – sanirdeśaṃ pai ///
b7	n8 /// k_ulapak· – – – ·āhkh·ś·i ///

Translation

a1	... turns it ... says: «The Buddha, the teacher ...»
a2	... I will report [this] to you in brief \|\| in taruṇadivāk(ar) (\|\|) ...
a3	... know this decisively! Evil ...
a4	... through the fruit of the deed ... (of) a blue lotus ...
a5	... is removed. The pupil ...
a6	... they will be ... ṣāmikāñ. An earth (?) mine trāṅk ...
a7	... the earth mine trāṅk ... perish. ... saw him ... handsome ...
b1	... are to be received by all beings. 1. The pupil says ...
b2	... I am of ... existence. He will not be able to ... me ...
b3	... he will have to tell the link[s] of the jātaka [story] ...
b4	... \|\| in paṇḍurāṅkaṃ (\|\|) ...
b5	... whom I turned into ...
b6	...
b7	...

Commentary

Remarks

*	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).

Philological commentary

n1	(spa)rcwatr-äṃ: the following character may be the punctuation mark ":". If so, four more akṣaras may be lost in the lacuna; that is, if the restoration (trä)ṅkäṣ is correct, still another three.
n2	(ā)kṣ(i)ñam-ci: the restoration is certain. More frequent are the variants ākṣiññam (excluded here, pace Carling et al. 2009: 29b) and ākṣñam (see also Peyrot 2013b: 720).
n3	taruṇadivāk(araṃ): tune name certainly corresponding to TB taruṇadivākarne, which has the metre 19 / 19 / 10 / 19 (= 7 ¦ 7 ¦ 5 / 7 ¦ 7 ¦ 5 / 5 ¦ 5 / 7 ¦ 7 ¦ 5). However, this metre is so far not attested in Tocharian A and this fragmentary passage does not allow a detailed metrical analysis.
n4	tseṃ-o(ppalṣi): cf. A 378 a1 tseṃ-oppa(lṣiñi).
n5	These lines contain hapax legomena of unknown meaning: /// ṣāmikāñ and trāṅk. Also tkani is unclear, since the plural of tkaṃ 'earth' is regularly tkañi, while also a derived adjective would be expected to be tkañi.
n6	paṇḍurāṅkaṃ: the long ā is left-bound, apparently as an ornamental feature at the end of the chapter. This tune name with unknown metre is also attested in A 274 a6; in Tocharian B, the corresponding tune paṇḍurāṅkäññene has the metre 4 x 4 ¦ 5.
n7	An ornamental vertical line at the end of the lines marks the end of a chapter. On the evidence of comparable leaves, there was probably another such line following after the blank space to the right of it, and another portion of text to the right of that.
n8	lyockwā tā: the long ā's are left-bound (see above).