YQ I.9

Known as:	YQ I.9; YQ 1.9
Cite this page as:	"YQ I.9". 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-yqi9 (accessed 25 Mar. 2025).
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 1.9
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Drama
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Meter:	43434 (4x)
Object
Manuscript:	Yanqi
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	8

Images

Transliteration

a1	/// sva rwa [śe] nyo we : sa sñyā ke ssu cma
a2	/// – śla tsa¯ ¯rk ka re¯ ¯l : 1 \|\| ta mpa lko ra¯ ¯s̝ ñä
a3	/// – tka rku pre ne sa swa¯ ¯s̝t la ma¯ ¯s̝ s̝pa¯ ¯t ñe mi ntu
a4	/// [pr]· ne nu wa s̝ta s̝la ñcä¯ ¯s̝ ktse¯ ¯ts pu tti śpa raṃ ka lpā tra tma s̝sa¯ ¯m
a5	/// [n]·¯ ¯k wi ki ñu pi pu klyi na smāṃ mo ko ne wla lu ne yā mro ska¯ ¯t ywā¯ ¯rcä wṣe
a6	/// rā ḍeṃ u dra ke nä ṣṣa ci ri ṣa ka śśi ma rka mpa¯ ¯l pa pra ṅku ra s̝s̝a¯ ¯k puku lmā ski pā
a7	/// ndāṃ na nda ba lā nä¯ ¯s̝ śä ks̝a kpi ā tklu mi nāṃ o ṅkriṃ wä rwo ra¯ ¯s̝ bo dhi vaṃ
a8	/// [p](·)[ā] kraṃ pra ti myo wa śi rṣiṃ ā sā nā lyä¯ ¯m ta ryā ks̝a kpi ko ri sko tra ntwā mā rñä
b1	/// ¯r ktse¯ ¯ts pu tti śpa raṃ ka lpā¯ ¯t \|\| vi śi kko naṃ \|\| wā ska¯ ¯t tkaṃ ñka tkā cke yo ka
b2	/// pr[e] raṃ śä kka lyme ntwaṃ wra sa śśi kā cke ta ma¯ ¯t : spa nta rkra ñcä swra sa śśi kuśa la
b3	/// [mo] bu ddha ra ke ka re ltsa rka śśä¯ ¯l ywā rklyo s̝a ltā¯ ¯k : 1 gau ta mko tra¯ ¯s̝ i kṣvā
b4	/// [laṃ] wra¯ ¯m pu¯ ¯k ka rso wi ka s̝laṃ wra¯ ¯m wa wi ku knā nmāṃ pā pṣu : lkā tsya
b5	/// ri tā¯ ¯ts : ka ṣṣi ñä kta sna peṃ śśi wa ste pa rma¯ ¯ṅk wra sa śśi
b6	/// ñu mā ski o te ta preṃ we yeṃ sa swra so mka rta nne
b7	/// [t](·)· \|\| ñka¯ ¯t tra ṅka s̝pa klyo s̝ma lka rteṃ ä ntā ne
b8	/// [m]ñä kte¯ ¯s kā kku rā bā rā ṇa si ri ya

Transcription

1b	a1n1 n2 11σ /// ; (brahma)svar ; waśenyo we :
1c	säs ñy ākessu ; cmaa2(lune)n2 n3 ; 11σ ///
1d	14σ – ; śla tsärk karel : 1 ॥

*	täm pälkoräṣ ñä¬
a3	(kci) /// (po)tkar kupre ne säs waṣt lamaṣ ṣpät ñemintu
a4	n4 /// (ku)pr(e) ne nu waṣtäṣ läñcäṣ ktsets puttiśparäṃ kälpāträ tmäṣ säm
a5	/// (sa)n(ä)k wiki ñu pi puklyi nasmāṃ mokone wlaluneyā mroskat ywārc wṣe
a6	n5 /// (a)rāḍeṃ udrakenäṣṣ aci riṣakäśśi märkampal papräṅkuräṣ ṣäk p_ukul māski pā¬
a7	(ṣläṃ)n6 n7 /// (na)ndāṃ nandabalānäṣ śäk ṣäk pi ātklumināṃ oṅkriṃ wärworäṣ bodhivaṃ
a8	n8 n9 /// p(r)ākräṃ pratimyo waśirṣiṃ āsānā lyäm taryāk ṣäk pi koris koträntwā mār-ñä¬
b1	(ktes)n9 n10 /// (sne) (lyutā)r ktsets puttiśparäṃ kälpāt ॥ viśikkonaṃ ॥

1a	wāskat tkaṃ ñkät ; kāckeyo ; käb2(lyme-kälyme)n11 ; 7σ
1b	4σ /// ; (e)preraṃ ; śäk kälymentwaṃ ; wrasaśśi ; kācke tamät :
1c	spantar krañcäs ; wrasaśśi ; k_uśalab3(mūlyo) ; 7σ
1d	3σ /// (na);mo buddha ; rake karel ; tsärkaśśäl ; ywār klyoṣäl tāk : 1
2a	gautam koträṣ ; ikṣvāb4(kuy) ; 11σ /// (:)
2b	(kärsnā)läṃ wram ; puk kärso ; wikäṣläṃ wram ; wawiku ; knānmāṃ pāpṣu :
2c	lkātsy ab5(sinät) ; 12σ /// ritāts :
2d	käṣṣi ñäktas ; napeṃśśi ; waste pärmaṅk ; wrasaśśi ; b6 4σ

*	/// (a)ñumāski ote täpreṃ weyeṃ sas wrasom kar tanne
b7	/// t(rä) ॥ ñkät träṅkäṣ päklyoṣ mälkärteṃ äntā ne
b8	n12 /// (bra)m ñäktes kākkurā bārāṇasi riya¬
	*	(c) (kātse)

Translation

a1	... he spoke with a Brahmā-like voice:
a1+	This is my final birth.
a2	... with musical instruments and laughter.
a2+	\|\| Having seen this, ... divine ... ... they distinguished (?):
a3+	If he stays at home, the seven jewels ...
a4	... (if), however, he leaves his home, he will attain the perfect status of Buddha (samyak-sambodhi).
a4+	Thereupon this ...
a5	... This one, at the age of twenty-nine, became appalled by old age and dying;
a5+	at midnight ...
a6+	... Having rejected the doctrine of Ārāḍa, Udraka and the other ṛṣis, (he) for six years (observed) the hard to (observe austerity) ...
a7+	... having received from Nandā and Nandabalā the rice pap, condensed sixteen times, in the Bodhi forest, he took his seat with firm decisiveness on the diamond throne.
a8+	(The army) of the god Māra, with his thirty-six myriads of companies, (he defeated) ...
b1	... he obtained the matchless perfect status of Buddha (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi). \|\| In the Viśikko [tune] \|\| The earth trembled with joy,
b1+	(in all) directions ...
b2	... in the sky, in the ten directions, joy of the beings was born.
b2+	They took confidence in the root of happiness (kuśalamūla) of the good beings
b3	1.
b3	... the words ‘Reverence to Buddha’ [namo buddha] were heard among laughter and music.
b3+	From the Gautama family and the lineage of Ikṣvā(ku) ... having learned everything that can be learned, having removed everything that can be removed, wise and disciplined, whom one cannot see enough,... striving for ..., teacher of gods and men, refuge and hope of living beings,
b6	... wondrous. Oh, how wonderful!
b6+	this one being ... thus only ...
b7	... The god says: Listen, noble one!
b7+	When ... at the invitation of (god) Brahmā, (he went to the vicinity) of the city of Vārāṇāsī.

Other

a3	If he stays at home, the seven jewels … (61) (Peyrot 2013b: 635)
a4	If, however, he leaves the house, he will attain the perfect Buddha rank. (cf 61, slightly different) (Peyrot 2013b: 245)
b6	Oh how wonderful! … merely one being … in such a way … (cf 61) (Peyrot 2013b: 285)

Commentary

Linguistic commentary

*	The commentary is basically adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 62.
n1	ākessu is unknown to Ji et al. 1998, but they refer to TA āk “end” (but TB āke); claiming that, therefore, ākessu is probably a loanword from TB.
n5	ārāḍeṃ: Thomas 1991: 16, note 41: “[ist] zu A (a)rāḍeṃ udrakenäṣṣ zu korrigieren”; but since there is only Skt. Ārāḍa, nowhere and never Arāḍa, Thomas’ correction must be rescinded.māski implies that “he practiced the severe religious austerities”, Skt. tapas, cf. MaitrHami 1, 15 b10.
n6	Here in the original fragment only a small point is left, obviously part of the Brāhmī sign na. But the transcription of Thomas is [·n](a)ndāṃ. Thomas’ signs [ ]( ) are all superfluous.
n8	Thomas 1991: 17, note 43 claims that “von dem Akṣara [p](r)ā ist in der Tat noch ein deutlicher Rest erkennbar.”, which Ji et al. 1998: 62 reject out of hand.
n11	spantar: correctly identified as the 3pl.pret.act. to spänt- (TEB II: 157) “to trust” (someone, something) by Ji et al. 1998: 62. However, as pointed out by Schmidt 1999b: 283, there is no reason to take this form to stand for spāntar (as per Ji et al. 1998: 279): it is regular.
n12	riya- is to be completed as riya(c kātse), according to the parallel text, MaitrHami 1, 16 a11f.

Parallel texts

*	MaitrHami 1, 15-16

Philological commentary

*	Carling et al. 2009: 129 translates “with (lute-)music and laughter”.
n2	MaitrHami 1, 15 a11-14 has “This is my last birth”. Mahāvastu. II. 24, 9: ayaṃ dāniṃ eko bhavo paścimo tti.
n3	Thomas 1991: 16, prints wrongly: • \|\|.
n4	MaitrHami 1, 15 a19-25: “(An astrologer said:) “If he stays at home, he will be a Cakravartin-emperor, ruling over the four directions and being equipped with the seven jewels. If he leaves the home (becomes a monk), he will get the saṃyak-sambodhi”.”
n7	MaitrHami 1, 15 b13-14: “Having enjoyed the 16 times strengthened pap offered by the two sisters Nandā and Nandabalā.”
n9	Cf. MaitrHami 1, 15 b15-18.
n10	viśikkonaṃ: two stanzas of 4 x 18 (7/7/4) syllables. For the following description, cf. MaitrHami 1, 15 b22-30.

Remarks

*	This fragment contains part of the first act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; an Uy. parallel is MaitrHami I, 15a11-16a11. See also Pinault 1999: 193-4.
*	The translation and the following commentary are adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 62.

References

Edition

Ji et al. 1998

Translations

Peyrot 2013b: a3 (635), a4 (245), b6 (285)

Bibliography

Carling et al. 2009

Carling, Gerd, Georges-Jean Pinault, and Werner Winter. 2009. A dictionary and thesaurus of Tocharian A. Volume 1: Letters a-j. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Ji et al. 1998

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 2013b

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 1999

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 1999b

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.

TEB II

Thomas, Werner, and Wolfgang Krause. 1964. Tocharisches Elementarbuch, Band II. Texte und Glossar. Heidelberg: Winter.

Thomas 1991

Thomas, Werner. 1991. Zwei weitere Maitreya-Fragmente in Tocharisch A. Vol. 1. SbWGF, XXVIII. Stuttgart: Steiner.