YQ I.8
| Known as: | YQ I.8; YQ 1.3 |
|---|---|
| Cite this page as: | "YQ I.8". 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-yqi8 (accessed 13 Aug. 2026). |
Provenience | |
| Main find spot: | Qigexing |
| Collection: | Xinjiang Museum (Ürümchi) |
Language and Script | |
| Language: | TA |
| Script: | classical |
Text contents | |
| Title of the work: | Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka |
| Passage: | Act 1.8 |
| Text genre: | Literary |
| Text subgenre: | Drama |
| Verse/Prose: | prose; verse |
| Meter: | 5555 (1x), 444343 (1x), 55 (1x), 4443 (1x) |
Object | |
| Manuscript: | Yanqi |
| Material: | ink on paper |
| Form: | Poṭhī |
| Number of lines: | 8 |
Images
Transliteration
| a1 | /// [pu] [rṇa] bha dre ñka tka lnmāṃ mla ṅkmāṃ ye twe |
|---|---|
| a2 | /// stu ṣi ra¯ ¯śä lya lyu ku ra¯ ¯s̝ bā dha riṃ brā mna¯ ¯cä |
| a3 | /// [mā] [mrā]¯ ¯cä knā na¯ ¯s̝ mā pe nu mrā ci¯ ¯s klā lu ne knā na¯ ¯s̝ |
| a4 | /// ta mne we || ta mka klyu ṣu ra¯ ¯s̝ bā dha ri brā hmaṃ tsā tsa rwu |
| a5 | /// – ¯s̝ ku snu tṣaṃ ma lka rteṃ mrā¯ ¯cä knā na¯ ¯s̝ ku spa tnu mrā cä¯ ¯s̝ klā lu ne knā |
| a6 | /// [pkā] swo ne ytu yne śśo ki śa śmu ra¯ ¯s̝ || de va da tte naṃ || ṣñi knā nmu ne yo va jrā |
| a7 | /// [wra] mpu kka rsnā ntāṃ yo ma¯ ¯s ku sne knā nmu ne ka lpo ño¯ ¯m klyu pu¯ ¯k knā nmāṃ : ñä |
| a8 | /// [kn]ā na¯ ¯s̝ mrā cä ṣpe nu le tlu ne : 1 || tma¯ ¯s̝ bā dha ri brā hmaṃ ptā ñka tka ṣyā¯ ¯p ño¯ ¯m |
| b1 | /// [yo] ypi¯ ¯cä o ki a kma lyo ta mpe wā tsaṃ kā cke yo nmo sāṃ ka pśa ñi sma kko rto |
| b2 | /// [m]ma lka rteṃ ptā ñkä¯ ¯t ño mke ne nä¯ ¯s̝ ño¯ ¯m klyo ṣlu ne yo kle śā ṣiṃ ā wa ra nyo kli |
| b3 | /// – ptā ñka tta¯ ¯ts wā wru¯ ¯nt lkā¯ ¯m || pu rṇa bha dre tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ kucä¯ ¯s̝ ñi sa mcä mplu ne |
| b4 | /// [ṣñi] ke knu wa ltsu rā we ña mpa klyo¯ ¯s̝ na¯ ¯s̝ hi ma va¯ ¯nt ṣu li ska lyme |
| b5 | /// – mnu ri yaṃ ca kkra va rtṣi i kṣvā ku ysa rka¯ ¯s̝ gau ta¯ ¯m ko tra |
| b6 | /// [w](·)ā ñ(·)· [t](·)a¯ ¯s̝ ca mi nu lā¯ ¯nt ma hā mā yā lā tsu ne ṣiṃ |
| b7 | /// [traṃ] • vi jai mu hu rtaṃ • ta ryā kwe pi la kṣa ṇä syo |
| b8 | /// – || he tu pha laṃ || ta mta tmu sa¯ ¯m sne |
Transcription
| a1 | n1n2 /// purṇabhadre ñkät kälnmāṃ mläṅkmāṃ yetwe¬ |
|---|---|
| a2 | ¬(s)n3 /// (o)stu ṣiraś lyalyukuräṣ bādhariṃ brāmnac |
| a3 | n4 (träṅkäṣ) /// mā mrāc knānaṣ mā penu mrācis klālune knānaṣ |
| a4 | /// tämne we ॥ täm kaklyuṣuräṣ bādhari brāhmaṃ tsātsärwu |
| a5 | n5n6 /// (träṅkä)ṣ kus nu tṣaṃ mälkärteṃ mrāc knānaṣ kus pat nu mrācäṣ klālune knā¬ |
| a6 | ¬(naṣ)n6n7 /// (käṣyā)p kāswoneytu yneśś oki śaśmuräṣ ॥ devadattenaṃ ॥ |
| 1a | ṣñi knānmuneyo ; vajrāa7(sanā)n8 11σ |
|---|---|
| 1b | 3σ /// wram ; puk kärsnāntāṃ ; yomäs kus ne ; knānmune ; kälpo ñom-klyu ; puk knānmāṃ : |
| 1c | ñäa8(ktas) 8σ |
| 1d | 6σ /// knānaṣ ; mrācäṣ penu ; letlune : 1 ॥ |
| * | tmäṣ bādhari brāhmaṃ ptāñkät käṣyāp ñom |
|---|---|
| b1 | n9n10 /// yo ypic oki akmalyo tampewātsäṃ kāckeyo nmosāṃ kapśañi smakk orto |
| b2 | n11 /// (sä)m mälkärteṃ ptāñkät ñom ke ne näṣ ñom klyoṣluneyo kleśāṣiṃ āwaranyo kli¬ |
| b3 | ¬(soñcäs)n12n13 /// – ptāñkätt ats wāwrunt lkām ॥ purṇabhadre träṅkäṣ kucäṣ ñi säm cämplune |
| b4 | /// ṣñikek nu waltsurā weñam päklyoṣ naṣ himavant ṣulis kälyme¬ |
| b5 | ¬(yaṃ) /// (tā)m nu riyaṃ cakkravartṣi ikṣvākuy sarkäṣ gautam koträ¬ |
| b6 | ¬(ṣ) /// w(l)āñ(kä)t (n)aṣ cami nu lānt mahāmāyā lātsuneṣiṃ |
| b7 | n14 (ñemi) /// traṃ • vijai muhurtaṃ • taryāk we pi lakṣaṇäsyo |
| b8 | n15 /// – ॥ hetuphalaṃ ॥ |
| 1a | täm tatmu säm ; sne |
|---|
Translation
| a1+ | ... the god Pūrṇabhadra, (looking at) his ornaments (which were) touching each other and made a (pleasant) noise, ... having illuminated the dwellings all around, (comes) to Bādhari the Brahmin |
|---|---|
| a3 | ... he does not know the ‘top’, |
| a3 | nor does he know the ‘falling from the top’ |
| a3+ | ... Thus he spoke. |
| a4+ | || Having heard this, Bādhari the Brahmin, consoled ... (he says:) |
| a5 | Who is it here, oh noble one, that knows the ‘top’? |
| a5+ | Or who knows the ‘falling from the top’? |
| a6 | ... having placed before his eyes, as it were, the virtues of (the Buddha-god), the teacher, (he says:) |
| a6 | || In the Devadatta [tune] || |
| a6+ | (Having seated himself) through his own wisdom on the diamond throne, ... he has attained (the state) of omniscience, having gained fame, the all-knowing one: gods... ... he knows (the ‘top’) and also the ‘falling from the top’. |
| a8+ | || Thereupon Bādhari the Brahmin, (having heard about) the fame of the Buddha-god the teacher; ... with his face full, as it were, of ..., with mighty joy, a bent body with ... straight (turned) upwards ... |
| b2+ | ... oh noble one, whose name is Buddha, by the hearing of whose name I see, (among the beings lying) under the burden of Kleśas, ... the Buddha-god awakened indeed. |
| b3 | || Pūrṇabhadra says: |
| b3+ | Whence (will) I (have) the ability, |
| b4 | ... however, I will tell in short. |
| b4 | Listen! |
| b4+ | There is, (in) the direction of the Himalaya mountains, (on the banks of the Bhāgīrathī river, a lovely and beautiful city named Kapilavastu.) |
| b5+ | In this city now (there is) from the lineage of the Cakravartin king Ikṣvāku and the Gautama family ... there is an Indra-god (named Śuddhodana). |
| b6+ | For this king, Mahāmāyā, (the jewel) of queenship (gave birth to a son). |
| b7+ | ... in the hour of Vijaya, (endowed) with the thirty-two marks |
| b8 | ... || In the Hetuphala [tune] || |
| b8 | Just born, this one without (fear) |
| a8 | 1. |
Other
| b4 | However, I will tell in short. Listen! (cf 57) (Peyrot 2013b: 219) |
|---|
Commentary
Linguistic commentary
| The commentary is adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 58. | |
| n1 | mläṅk- is unknown to Ji et al. 1998, but they assume an -n- infix formation of mälk- “to arrange”. |
| n3 | Thomas 1991’s reading is incomplete, (o)stu, if correctly identified, seems to be a borrowing of TB ostuwa, plural of TB ost ‘house’, with an adaptation to the pattern of native TA waṣtu: waṣt. |
| n5 | mälkärteṃ, cf. Pinault 1993: 161-180. |
| n6 | See Thomas 1991: 12: “Zu Zeile a 5: am Zeilenende gewiss zu A knā(naṣ\) – Ji knānaṣ! – zu ergänzen.” But in Ji 1983 the transcription is, line 5: knā, line 6: (naṣ). The parentheses ( ) were arbitrarily taken away by Thomas. |
| n9 | smakk orto: Thomas 1991: 14: “den gebeugten Körper gleich[zeitig] nach oben ...” The 19th mark of the 32 marks of the Buddha is TA tsopats kārme kapśiññum (YQ II.5: a2) or tsopats smak kapśño (YQ II.10: b1), which are equivalent to the Skt. compound bṛhad-ṛju-kāyaḥ. Therefore, smak is somehow equal to Skt. ṛju-, which means “straight, right, upright, honest”, in German “gleich”. Thomas translates it first with “gleich[mässig]” and then turns it to “gleich[zeitig]”, which astonishes Ji et al. 1998: 58, who stress the huge difference between the two concepts. For the description of Badhari’s attitude, see MaitrHami 1, 14 b9ff. |
| n12 | Thomas 1991: 9 has p[t]āñkatt, while Ji et al. 1998: 58 regard the syllable tā of ptāñkatt as clear as possible and Thomas' [ ] as superfluous. |
Parallel texts
| MaitrHami 1, 14-15 |
Philological commentary
| (12) Na so muddhaṃ pajānāti, Muddhani muddhapāte vā | |
| Kuhako so dhanatthiko, Ñāṇam tassa na vijjati || | |
| “He knows nothing about head(s). He is a deceitful (man), desiring money. He has no knowledge about head(s) or head-splitting.” | |
| n2 | This leaf and the following (YQ I.9) are discussed by Pinault 1990 and Thomas 1991. Cf. MaitrHami 1, 14 a11ff (cf. Ji et al. 1998: 18). |
| n4 | Cf. MaitrHami 1, 14 a18ff. Compare also the following passage from the Suttanipāta, ch. V. Pārāyanavagga (according to the references given above, section 1.4.5.3.), 1. Vatthugāthā, v. 986-987: “Seeing him terrified and miserable, a deity who desired his welfare going up to Bāvarī spoke these words:” |
| n7 | Thomas 1991: 12: ś[ś]aśmuraṣ\. The second [ś] on the original photograph is only a dim shadow; according to Schmidt 1999b: 281, the second ś was deleted intentionally in the original manuscript. devadattenaṃ is a stanza of 20 (5/5/5/5) + 22 (8/7/7) + 10 (5/5) + 15 (8/7) syllables. For the following speech, cf. MaitrHami 1, 14 a28ff. |
| n8 | yomas: the sign ma on the original photograph is as clear as possible, but Thomas 1991: 8, n. 11 would prefer pa. The reading is confirmed by the parallel, MaitrHami 1, 14 b2. |
| n10 | yo: Thomas 1991: 9, n. 13 remarks that this is missing in Ji's transcription (Ji 1983). Ji et al. 1998: 58 counter that since on the original photograph only less than half of the syllable yo (?) is left, Thomas’ comment is rather too bold. |
| n11 | mälkärteṃ. Thomas 1991: 9, note 14: “steht in Ligatur, also nicht mit Ji malkarteṃ”, although his transcription would appear to be the same as Ji 1983 ·malkarteṃ. |
| n13 | For the second half of this line, cf. MaitrHami 1, 14 b17ff. |
| n14 | Cf. MaitrHami 1, 15 a2-3. |
| n15 | hetuphalaṃ: a stanza of 4 x 18 (7/7/4) syllables. The end of this leaf corresponds to MaitrHami 1, 15 a8ff. |
Remarks
| This fragment contains part of the first act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; an Uy. parallel is MaitrHami I, 14a11-15a8. See also Pinault 1999: 193-4. | |
| The translation and the following commentary are adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 58. |
References
Edition
Translations
Adams 2012a: a2 (28); Peyrot 2013b: b4 (219)
Bibliography
Adams, Douglas Q. 2012a. “Shedding light on *leuk- in Tocharian and Hittite and the wider implications of reconstructing its Indo-European morphology.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 13: 21–55.
Ji, Xianlin. 1983. “Translations from the Tocharian A (Agnean) Maitreyasamitināṭaka. Four pages (1.3 1/2, 1.3 1/1, 1.9 1/1 1.9 1/2) of the Xinjiang-Museum version.” Dunhuang Tulufan Wenxian Yanjiu Lunji 2: 43–70.
Ji, Xianlin, Werner Winter, and Georges-Jean Pinault. 1998. Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka of the Xinjiang Museum, China. Transliterated, translated and annotated by Ji Xianlin in collaboration with Werner Winter, Georges-Jean Pinault. TLSM 113. Berlin/New York: de Gruyter.
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.
Pinault, Georges-Jean. 1990. “Notes sur les manuscrits de Maitreyasamiti.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 4: 119–202.
Pinault, Georges-Jean. 1993. “Tokharien A mälkärteṃ et autres mots.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 6: 133–88.
Pinault, Georges-Jean. 1999. “Restitution du Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka en tokharien A: Bilan provisoire et recherches complémentaires sur l’acte XXVI.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 8: 189–240.
Schmidt, Klaus T. 1999b. “Review of: Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka of the Xinjiang Museum, China.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 8: 277–85.
Thomas, Werner. 1991. Zwei weitere Maitreya-Fragmente in Tocharisch A. Vol. 1. SbWGF, XXVIII. Stuttgart: Steiner.
