SHT 2250 and 2254.a
| Known as: | SHT 2250 and 2254.a |
|---|---|
| Cite this page as: | "SHT 2250 and 2254.a". 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-sht2250and2254a (accessed 14 Dec. 2025). |
Provenience | |
| Main find spot: | Sengim |
| Specific find spot: | [purchased] |
| Expedition code: | T II S 50 (+ T III S 51?) |
| Collection: | Berlin Turfan Collection |
Language and Script | |
| Language: | Skt.; TB |
Text contents | |
| Title of the work: | Aśvaghoṣa, Buddhacarita |
| Passage: | 13.66d-14.1a |
| Text genre: | Literary |
| Text subgenre: | Gloss |
| Verse/Prose: | prose |
Object | |
| Material: | ink on paper |
| Form: | Poṭhī |
| Size (h × w): | 5.2 + 6 × 3 + 6.3 cm |
| Number of lines: | 4+? |
Images
Images from idp.bbaw.de by courtesy of the International Dunhuang Project Berlin, the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, and the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Orientabteilung.
Transliteration
| aw | /// [n]m· meṃ [ta] rka tsi tse pe |
|---|---|
| ay | [wa] rs̝a¯ ¯l va jro pa¯ ¯m o mpo l[s](·)[o] /// |
| az | /// |
| b1 | spe lke |
| b2 | re tke |
| b3 | ka tke ma ne |
Transcription
| aw | n1n2 /// (śanmā)nm(a)meṃ tarkatsitse pe{lkiṃ} |
|---|---|
| ay | n3n4 warṣäl vajropam ompols(k)o(ññetse) /// |
| az | n5 /// |
| b1 | n6n7 spelke unread prerentsa |
| b2 | n8n9 retke unread kakāwaṣ säswetse ram |
| b3 | n10 katkemane unread iprer |
Translation
| aw | in order to let go from [its] bonds |
|---|---|
| ay | the energy (of) vajropama meditation |
| az | ?? |
| b1 | effort ... by arrows |
| b2 | army ... like of a lord [who is] killed |
| b3 | rejoicing ... sky |
Commentary
Remarks
| SHT 2250 bears the expedition code T III S 51 on its frame; the actual find spot, however, cannot be ascertained. SHT 2254 was purchased in Siŋgim. They belong to the same leaf (IDP). |
Linguistic commentary
| n1 | Schmidt apud Hartmann 1988a: 58 restores pe(lykiñ), but in view of SHT 2054.b: b2 (pe)lkiṃ and the fact that pelkiṃ and pelykiṃ are clearly later forms of pelkiñ (Peyrot 2008: 81), pe〈lkiṃ〉 should be preferred. |
|---|---|
| n3 | The word ompols(k)o(ññe) 'meditation' (or probably ompols(k)o(ññetse) if it is in the genitive) is a late form of class. ompalskoññe. Although this word is not discussed in Peyrot 2008, the vowel change observed is obviously parallel to oṅkarño 'poridge' > late oṅkorño (Peyrot 2008: 172-3). The variant ompolskoññe is further found in three clearly late fragments: THT 296: b6 (=mpolskoññe = THT 297.b [frgm.3]: b7 and THT 586: a7. A further instance of the same sound law is postonont 'later' for class. postanont (cited by Adams 2013a: 436, without pressmark). |
| n6 | prerentsa is a perlative plural. |
| n8 | Note the late forms säswetse for säswentse and ram for ramt. The Sanskrit compound is not followed literally in the Tocharian gloss: the pt.ptc. kakāwaṣ concords with säswetse; and the gen.sg. of säswetse is probably to be understood as 'like (the army) of a lord [who is] killed', although this word order is normally hardly possible in Tocharian. By the way, Schmidt's reading kakāwas\ (in Hartmann 1988a: 58) is a typographical error. There is no reason to expect a nom.sg.fem. kakāwuṣa (i.e. kakāwusa), pace Malzahn 2010: 606. |
Philological commentary
| n2 | glosses Skt. Bc.13.66d (jagadbandhana)mokṣah(etoḥ) 'to free the world from its bonds' (Olivelle 2008: 395. It should be noted that 〈lkiṃ〉 has to be added against the manuscript: there is no trace of an akṣara following pe, even though there is enough space. Interestingly, pe seems to be written over a fainter gloss, also [p]·; see also the next gloss, discussed directly below. Finally, the three Tocharian words are written separately, so that it would also be possible to distinguish three glosses: (śanmā)nm(a)meṃ under °bandhana; tarkatsitse under °mokṣa°; and pe〈lkiṃ〉 under °h(etoḥ). |
|---|---|
| n4 | glosses Skt. Bc.13.68d vegaṃ samādher 'the intensity of trance' (Olivelle 2008: 397). Remarkably, this gloss was written in blacker ink with a thicker line through an original gloss in fainter ink with a thinner line. The original gloss is no longer recoverable, it seems: between [wa] and rṣa one can read r, possibly with an akṣara in virāma following. Dots over the r, i.e. rä, probably do not belong to it. Between jro and pa there is an akṣara pa; on top of pa the vocalism ·o of an akṣara underneath is still visible, and traces of another one to the left. To the right of mpo (actually on top of its p), a trace of lo can be seen, with a further akṣara to the right, perhaps [y]·. Under Skt. pade kiṃ of the next line, ·[e] – ñ[e] can be read. The occurrence of vajropam in the gloss is remarkable, since there is no mention of a specific type of meditation in the Sanskrit text. |
| n5 | Traces of a gloss are found under Skt. Bc.13.69c (na kṣa)mam a(dhruvā) 'not suitable ... not permanent', most probably two akṣaras, but unfortunately illegible. |
| n7 | spelke glosses Skt. Bc.13.70c °udyamaḥ 'effort' (cf. Olivelle 2008: 397). The preceding glosses /// no and teta – /// (found on fragment SHT 2250) are unclear. no may clarify that the last akṣara of vimano 'dejected', under which it is placed, is indeed to be read no. The next gloss teta – /// could also be read tena – /// and is found under hata° 'struck'. prerentsa glosses Skt. Bc.13.70d śarair (instr.pl.) 'by arrows' (cf. Olivelle 2008: 397). |
| n9 | retke glosses Skt. Bc.13.71c camū (for camūr) 'army'. Under tke a fainter akṣara is found that might be re (= retke). To the right of camū a vertical line was added later, possibly to indicate the caesura (a similar line is drawn through the visarga of Bc.13.70c °udyamaḥ, for which see above). The second item glosses Skt. Bc.13.71d hatāśrayeva 'like [when] the chief is killed' (cf. Olivelle 2008: 397). Under kakāwaṣ\ a fainter gloss kak[a]waṣ\ is found, whose last akṣara ṣ\ is placed to the right of the end of the darker gloss. Likewise, a fainter akṣara is found under the akṣara sa, possibly also sa. Finally, the gloss is after the akṣara m\ followed by a faint [se] that does not seem to belong to it. |
| n10 | katkemane glosses Skt. Bc.13.72c vipāpmā 'free from suffering', a variant reading of this manuscript for Johnston's sahāsā 'smiling' (Johnston 1935: I, 156; Hartmann 1988a: 59, who considers sahāsā the correct reading). Interestingly, this gloss is preceded by a faint sahā·[ā], which indicates that the glossator preferred sahāsā to vipāpmā. Remarkably, the Tocharian gloss also seems to be based on sahāsā, not on vipāpmā, as pointed out already by Hartmann (l.c.). The gloss katkemane covers two fainter akṣaras that seem to be again ka[t]ke; a third akṣara, now undecipherable, may have followed. iprer 'sky' glosses Skt. Bc.13.72c dyau(ś) 'sky'. |
References
Online access
Miscellaneous
Peyrot 2014: 133, 156-9; Hartmann 1988a: 58; Malzahn 2007b: 312
Bibliography
Adams, Douglas Q. 2013a. A dictionary of Tocharian B. Revised and greatly enlarged. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.
Hartmann, Jens-Uwe. 1988a. “Neue Aśvaghoṣa- und Mātṛceṭa-Fragmente aus Ostturkistan.” Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen. I. Philologisch-historische Klasse 1988, 55–92.
“The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.” n.d. http://idp.bl.uk.
Johnston, Edward Hamilton. 1935. The Buddhacitra. Or, acts of the Buddha. Vol. 31–32. 2 vols. Panjab University Oriental Publications. Calcutta: Baptist Mission.
Malzahn, Melanie. 2007b. “A preliminary survey of the Tocharian glosses in the Berlin Turfan Collection.” In Instrumenta Tocharica, edited by Melanie Malzahn, 301–19. Heidelberg: Winter.
Malzahn, Melanie. 2010. The Tocharian verbal system. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Olivelle, Patrick. 2008. Life of the Buddha by Aśvaghoṣa. New York: New York University.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2008. Variation and change in Tocharian B. Vol. 15. Leiden Studies in Indo-European. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2014. “Notes on Tocharian glosses and colophons in Sanskrit manuscripts I.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 15: 131–79.
