THT 597
| Known as: | THT 597; B 597; Bleistiftnummer 2423 |
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| Cite this page as: | Adrian Musitz (translation). "THT 597". 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-tht597 (accessed 20 Apr. 2025). |
Edition | |
| Editor: | Adrian Musitz (translation) |
Provenience | |
| Main find spot: | Kucha Ming-öy |
| Expedition code: | T III M(ing öi) 42.1 |
| Collection: | Berlin Turfan Collection |
Language and Script | |
| Language: | TB |
| Linguistic stage: | classical |
| Script: | classical |
Text contents | |
| Title of the work: | Treatise about the Law as a path to Nirvāṇa |
| Text genre: | Literary |
| Text subgenre: | Doctrine |
| Verse/Prose: | verse |
| Meter: | 4335 (4x) |
Object | |
| Material: | ink on paper |
| Form: | Poṭhī |
| Size (h × w): | 7 × 31 cm |
| Number of lines: | 5 |
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 | /// [ri] tya ma lle sū mā ka llā lle 60 4 ṣe me y[ä] kne ka – ·[u] s· – – ṅkau kwa rsa r· – – – a – – – – – ñma tai kne sa kwa rsa r· |
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| a2 | /// kwa rsa rce¯ ¯u tsa lpe lla ññe ṣṣe : kuce śa rsā re e mpre ntsa kwa rsa rce¯ ¯u e mpreṃ ka rsau ca¯ ¯ñ 60 5 – – mp[o] staṃ ywā rśka ne kuse kwa |
| a3 | /// śa mñe sa a nai śai re rī twa tā kaṃ : e tre ṅka cce su kwa rsa ro ro cce ra [m]e r[ka] rsa [n]aṃ : pe lai kne ṣṣe [pi] ·e lttse kwa rsa rne sū e |
| a4 | /// snai tsa ṅkau mā yna mo[ṃ] – ke snai ṣo [tr]i : ṣaṃ ñä ññe sa snai a kā [lk]·· – lyñe pe lai kne ka tkre : snai we śe ññ[ai] se go ttra klyo moṃ |
| a5 | /// [s]e śpā lmeṃ po ntaṃ kre n[ta] – – – ·e ·ā rs[aṃ] pe le yä k[n]e ai – – – – – – ·i : a kā śne ma śma ntä ksa wī pa – m[ā] ceṃ ś[na] kra m·· |
| b1 | /// [:] p· l[ai] [k]n· n· su w· – – – – w· stra pū [d]ñ· kt·[¯] [¯]ts – – – – – – [w]· ñā re we skeṃ wa¯ ¯t te po s[ta]· w· ñeṃ : ś[a] kka lym[i] |
| b2 | /// wro cci : po sū ka tkre – we lyñe pe lai kne we ñai pa styai ku : – – – [n]o pū dñä kti re kau na o no lmeṃ [ś]wñ· r· 60 9 we śe |
| b3 | /// ñai mpa sā mo : pe lai kn· po ai ka ri snai sa tta a kā śa mpa sā – – te – ·w[a] ka rsau wa wä n[ta] [r]· ·ai kne sa e mpreṃ : cwi [n]·· |
| b4 | /// tta kā wo 70 ka ma rtī ke mā ne saṃ snai sa tta pe lai kni po ñccai : ai ś[au] my[i] no ñe myä rmo ta t[tā] r·e[ṃ] – mna te sa rne : ñe mnaṃ tsno |
| b5 | /// lai kneṃ tsra no ṣa ññe ri to rmeṃ ma nta ka llā lle 70-1 ma kte [k]· r·· – r·ā re e mpre [ñce] p· ·ä [kt]i w·o – – – – – re e mpre ñce kwa rsa rne ścā – |
Transcription
Translation
| a1 | ... can be prophesized. It cannot be obtained. In the same manner... which is the vehicle through truth (?) without arising. |
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| a1+ | ... in this way, the vehicle through truth... |
| a2 | ... the vehicle... of liberation..., which the ones knowing the truth understood as the vehicle through truth. (?) |
| a2+ | The vehicle which is before, after, in the middle..., if they are hitched diligently through knowledge, one quickly knows the great vehicle lacking attachment. |
| a3+ | One is (then) skilled in the vehicle of lawful life. |
| a4 | ... a place without arising, immobile, without marks; a law by nature wishless, without words, deep; without speech, this kind of the noble... |
| a5 | ... this one is best among all the virtuous. Whoever knows the law..., never shakes his fist in the air. Not... to them... |
| b1 | The telling of the law is called best of all by the Buddhas. ... they said, say or will say later... |
| b1+ | Ten directions... great... |
| b2 | The whole deep law, without words, having removed weñaiIn this exact way, the Buddhas spoke the words to the beings. |
| b2+ | ... similar to the voice... |
| b3 | The dharmasare all empty, without being, like air. The things known, understood through this are true in this way (?). |
| b3+ | His/its.... desire... |
| b4 | There is no ruler; All the dharmasare without being. The wise ones, having only established a name (for themselves? i.e. they are wise in name only), established names for it. |
| b4+ | Of the names... |
| b5 | Also seeking the nature of the dharmas, one can never obtain it. As the Buddhas figured out the great vehicle of truth, so they figured out the vehicle of truth for this... |
Other
| b1 | … they said before, or they say [now, or] will say after this. (Peyrot 2013b: 291) |
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| b1 | Das Spr(echen des) Gesetz(es) aber wird von (allen) Buddhas (das Vorzüglichste) genannt. (Schmidt 1974: 254) |
| b4 | Die auf Name [und] Maß bedachten Gelehrten haben ihm (Na)men [bei]gelegt. (Schmidt 1974: 477) |
Commentary
Philological commentary
| n1 | Interestingly, pelaikneis written as pele yäkne, probably to fit the meter. |
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| n2 | Could this be a strange form of weśeññai? |
Alternative linguistic/paleographic classifications
| Tamai 2011 | C3 |
| Tamai 2011 | C14 |
References
Online access
Edition
Sieg and Siegling 1953: 381-382
Translations
Carling 2000: a5 (140, 141); Krause 1952: a2 (40); Peyrot 2013b: b1 (291); Schmidt 1974: b1 (254), b4 (477); Thomas 1952: a1 (40), a1 (57), a2 (56), b1 (38), b5 (31); Thomas 1957: a2 (229), b5 (232); Thomas 1968: b5 (221); Thomas 1976: b4 (229); Thomas 1997: a5 (77), b2 (72), b4 (77)
Bibliography
Carling, Gerd. 2000. Die Funktion der lokalen Kasus im Tocharischen. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
“The International Dunhuang Project: The Silk Road Online.” n.d. http://idp.bl.uk.
Krause, Wolfgang. 1952. Westtocharische Grammatik, Band I. Das Verbum. Heidelberg: Winter.
Peyrot, Michaël. 2013b. The Tocharian subjunctive. A study in syntax and verbal stem formation. Vol. 8. Brill’s Studies in Indo-European Languages & Linguistics. Leiden/Boston: Brill.
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. 1952. Die tocharischen Verbaladjektive auf -l. Deutsche Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Institut für Orientforschung 9. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
Thomas, Werner. 1957. Der Gebrauch der Vergangenheitstempora im Tocharischen. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
Thomas, Werner. 1968. “Zur Verwendung von toch. A oki/B ramt und A mäṃtne/B mäkte in Vergleichen.” Orbis 17: 198–231.
Thomas, Werner. 1976. “Zur tocharischen Entsprechung von skt. tāyin.” Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung 89: 221–30.
Thomas, Werner. 1997. Interpretationsprobleme im Tocharischen. Unflektiertes A puk, B po “ganz, all, jeder”. Vol. 3. SbWGF, XXXV. 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.
