THT 388
| Known as: | THT 388; B 388; Bleistiftnummer 2638 |
|---|---|
| Cite this page as: | Adrian Musitz (translation). "THT 388". 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-tht388 (accessed 19 Jan. 2026). |
Edition | |
| Editor: | Adrian Musitz (translation) |
Provenience | |
| Main find spot: | Kizil Ming-öy |
| Expedition code: | T III MQR 3 |
| Collection: | Berlin Turfan Collection |
Language and Script | |
| Language: | TB |
| Linguistic stage: | archaic |
| Script: | classical |
Text contents | |
| Title of the work: | Buddhacarita (not by Aśvaghoṣa) |
| Text genre: | Literary |
| Text subgenre: | Kāvya |
| Verse/Prose: | verse |
| Meter: | 4343 (4x) |
Object | |
| Manuscript: | THT 388-390 |
| Material: | ink on paper |
| Form: | Poṭhī |
| Number of lines: | 8 |
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
| a1 | |
|---|---|
| a2 | [sa] rya to mpa po yśi ntse a sāṃ spe ke nne wi tskaṃ ma kci ka yo pa /// |
| a3 | stā¯ ¯m 70-1 e ntwe la cä snai ke śa la kutse tse ta rka r[s]e /// |
| a4 | mye [ṣ]·· – k[ci] ya vai ru ḍi ṣṣe [tā] yo re ta /// |
| a5 | [k]au[ṃ] (·)e [ṣ]y[ai] pu dñä kte bra mñä kte mta pa [du] (–) /// |
| a6 | ·ñ· co ksa sā¯ ¯u 70 5 pa du mra mta la lau pau krā ke /// |
| a7 | [m]ā cä mpya re cai śa mtsi k[r]au pe ścä pu dñä kte ntwe te we /// |
| a8 | – – [pa] l[ya] po mā ka p[k]ā te [saṃ] (–) rmeṃ t[sa] l[p]a s[ts]i [70] /// |
| b1 | – – – – – – – – mu [d]gu ly· /// |
| b2 | [s̝a] ñya mo rnta ta sā nte śa mnā po ñä śce ne ṅke cme ma /// |
| b3 | s[t]ā k[ṣ]i ra ddhi kre¯ ¯nt 80 2 vi dyä ntse ceṃ ke¯ ¯u cya nne ma ntra /// |
| b4 | – – ksa w[o]ṃ ta rka rra pra ści ye a ntpi ta /// |
| b5 | kte kus(·) – – ñc· [p]u [dñ]ä [kt]e lo l(·)au śā ra pa /// |
| b6 | ṅka rwa ma¯ ¯nt – lyśi ta ṅwä ññ[e] – – – – – /// |
| b7 | ṣṣe ntse ce¯ ¯u pre ke ta ko yka ntsa ka lpa nma ka nte kṣṇai sn[ai] /// |
| b8 | [l](·)eṃ ·[ä] llā ṣṣa pu dñä kte ṣṣe ma[¯] [¯][nt] vi [ṣ]·· – – ñ[ñ]e /// |
Transcription
| 70b | saryat= ompä ; poyśintse ; asāṃ spe ; kenne witskaṃ |
|---|---|
| 71a | mäkci ka ; yopä(r) /// 9σ |
| 71b | 13σ a3 stām 70-1 |
| 72a | entwe läcä ; snai keśä ; läkutsetse ; tärkär{s→m}e{ṃ} (ramt) |
| 73a | /// 8σ (nau)a4myeṣ(ṣa) ; (ñä)kciya |
| 73b | vairuḍiṣṣe ; tāy ore ; tä /// 6σ |
| 74a | 14σ |
| 74b | (mant) a5 kauṃ (w)eṣ yai ; pudñäkte ; bram-ñäkte mtä ; padu(mne) |
| 75a | /// 14σ |
| 75b | 10σ a6 ·ñ· 1σ ; coksa sāu 70-5 |
| 76a | padum ramtä ; lalaupau ; krāke /// 5σ |
| 76b | 14σ |
| 77a | a7 mā cämpyare ; cai śämtsi ; kraupeścä ; pudñäkt= entwe |
| 77b | te we /// 12σ |
| 78a | 12σ a8– – 2σ |
| 78b | {pä→o}lyapo ; māka pkāte ; saṃ(sā)rmeṃ ; tsälpastsi 70(-8) |
| 80b | /// b1– – – – – – – – mudguly· /// |
| 81a | b2 ṣäñ ; yamornta |
| 81b | tasānte ; śamnā po ñäś ; cene ṅke ; cmema(r) (cmelne) |
| 82a | /// 14σ |
| 82b | 9σ b3 st= ākṣi ; räddhi krent 80-2 |
| 83a | vidyäntse ceṃ ; keuc yan-ne ; mänt ra /// 5σ |
| 83b | 14σ |
| 84a | 7σ ; b4 2σ – – k sawoṃ ; tärkär ra |
| 84b | praściye ; antpi tä /// 8σ |
| 85a | 13σ b5kte |
| 85b | kus(e) – – ñc· 3σ ; pudñäkte ; lo l(m)au śārä ; pa /// 2σ |
| 86a | 14σ |
| 87b | 4σ ; (tsä)b6ṅkärwa ; mänt – lyśi täṅwäññe – – – – – /// |
| 88a | 1σ (śai)b7ṣṣentse ; ceu preke ; takoy käntsa ; kalpänma |
| 88b | känte =kṣṇai ; snai /// 10σ |
| 89a | 12σ (śpā)b8l(m)eṃ |
| 89b | ·ällāṣṣa ; pudñäkteṣṣe ; mänt viṣ(nu) – – ññe /// |
Translation
| a2 | There he planted roots in the ground, next to the throne of Buddha. |
|---|---|
| a2 | They themselves entered... |
| a2+ | ... tree.. |
| a3 | Then... exited without number, like lightning (?) from a cloud. |
| a3+ | ... bejewelled, divine... |
| a4 | ... here oreof vairuḍi... |
| a4+ | Thus, the Buddha went into the guise of the sun, Brahma into a lotus, so to speak (?). |
| a5+ | ... she... with a lamp... |
| a6 | Like a lotus, having smeared dirt... |
| a6+ | ... they were not able to come... |
| a7 | Then, the Buddha said this to the assembly: ... |
| a8 | He made an attempt to save more (beings) from the Saṃsāra. |
| b1+ | ... all people took (into account) their own deeds: "I will be born in this birth." |
| b2+ | ... may he announce his good power. |
| b3 | The... of his knowledge go up just like... |
| b3+ | ... were raining... like a cloud. |
| b4 | Rainshower... both... |
| b5 | Who... Buddha... seated above away... |
| b5+ | ... summits... so thieves... lovely... |
| b6+ | ... may there be... of the world... that time for hundreds of kalpas. |
| b7 | A hundred... wrongly... without... |
| b7+ | ... excellent... |
| b8 | Brings (?)... of the Buddha... so Viṣṇu... |
Other
| a2 | Er säte dort nahe bei dem Sitz des Alleswissenden die Wurzeln in die Erde. (Schmidt 1974: 438) |
|---|
Commentary
Remarks
| In general, the script type is standard with only very few still archaic-shaped signs; cf. Malzahn 2007a: 265. |
Alternative linguistic/paleographic classifications
| Peyrot 2008 | A2 |
| Malzahn 2007a | A5 |
| Tamai 2011 | C1 |
| Tamai 2011 | C14 |
References
Online access
Edition
Sieg and Siegling 1953: 257-258
Translations
Carling 2000: a1 (80), b7 (281); Schmidt 1974: a2 (438); Thomas 1995: a8 (56)
Bibliography
Carling, Gerd. 2000. Die Funktionen der lokalen Kasus im Tocharischen. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
“The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.” n.d. http://idp.bl.uk.
Malzahn, Melanie. 2007a. “The most archaic manuscripts of Tocharian B and the varieties of the Tocharian B language.” In Instrumenta Tocharica, edited by Melanie Malzahn, 255–97. Heidelberg: Winter.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2008. Variation and change in Tocharian B. Vol. 15. Leiden Studies in Indo-European. Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi.
Schmidt, Klaus T. 1974. “Die Gebrauchsweisen des Mediums im Tocharischen.” PhD, Universität Göttingen.
Sieg, Emil, and Wilhelm Siegling. 1953. Tocharische Sprachreste. Sprache B, Heft 2. Fragmente Nr. 71-633. Edited by Werner Thomas. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Tamai, Tatsushi. 2011. Paläographische Untersuchungen zum B-Tocharischen. Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 138. Innsbruck: Institut für Sprachen und Literaturen.
Thomas, Werner. 1995. Zur tocharischen Syntax. Adverbiales A māk, B māka “viel”. Vol. 2. SbWGF, XXXIII. Stuttgart: Steiner.
Gippert, Jost, Katharina Kupfer, Christiane Schaefer, and Tatsushi Tamai. n.d. “Thesaurus Indogermanischer Text- und Sprachmaterialien (TITUS): Tocharian Manuscripts from the Berlin Turfan Collection.” http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/tocharic/thtframe.htm.
