YQ III.1

Known as:	YQ III.1; YQ 1.21
Cite this page as:	"YQ III.1". 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-yqiii1 (accessed 15 Apr. 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 3.1
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Drama
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Meter:	543 (4x); 4343 (4x)
Object
Manuscript:	Yanqi
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	8

Images

Transliteration

a1	/// ma tra ṅka ṣśā kke ṣi lā¯ ¯ts ma hā pra jā pa ti gau ta mi lywā
a2	/// ·tu ri ya¯ ¯cä śma lna¯ ¯s̝ pru tko ṣṣo ki śā kki ñśā kki ṣi nā syo
a3	/// ·[s]· ke ka lpe • sa snya gro dha rā msa ṅkrā mā a śśi tā pa¯ ¯rk ma hā nā
a4	/// ·[k]· ñc[ā]¯ ¯ñä wyā ra swi nā se¯ ¯ñcä a cle pa lko ra s̝tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ mu kti kā \|\|
a5	/// tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ ptā ñka¯ ¯t ka ṣyā pśä mlu ne pra ka ssi yä¯ ¯m ku pre a śśi lo
a6	/// [ni] tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ śā kke ṣi lāṃ tse ma hā pra jā pa ti gau ta mi¯ ¯s śā waṃ ske ya
a7	/// ta kta myo tā pa¯ ¯rk ska ma tpra ka s̝ta rku pre a śśi ptā ñka tka ṣṣi lo ku mnä
a8	/// [wā] saṃ klyo miṃ śā ki ṣi lāṃ¯ ¯ts gau ta mi : a mo ka ntwaṃ nu wā paṃ tsu ne pukaṃ ka
b1	/// [ma] ntpa tnu ta mpa pyu tkā¯ ¯t : 1 \|\| pa ṭṭī ni tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ ku pre ne wā pa lyi
b2	/// ā la kyā ma¯ ¯s \|\| pa ṭṭi nī tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ \|\| a ptsa ra da rśnaṃ \|\| ma ccā¯ ¯k ṣñi
b3	/// pyā ṣtṣā ma lke yo pa kku¯ ¯nt ma ccā ksā ma ta¯ ¯m : ma ccā kpe wa tma ccā ka¯ ¯k
b4	/// ka¯ ¯k wā pa tka na kwā kma tsaṃ : 1 \|\| wā skā¯ ¯ñcä tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ yne śñu¯ ¯k ptā ñka
b5	/// (·)[m]ā vi pa śyi ptā ñkte sunu¯ ¯m pyā pyo śwā tsi yo ktsi yo ka lyme yā spā
b6	/// ñka tka ṣyā¯ ¯p tsku nteṃ mā ca rtā¯ ¯k • ska ma¯ ¯t śä ks̝a kpi puka lye śo mi
b7	/// [ṣu] rmtā pa¯ ¯rk śā kke ṣi lā¯ ¯ts ma ccā kka¯ ¯r ka ppā ssā ryā • ma ccā
b8	/// [k]ṣā śā kki śśi pa lka ṣmā e rkā tu ne pa lkā¯ ¯r klyo miṃ ttā

Transcription

a1	n1 /// (sā)m{†ä} träṅkäṣ śākkeṣi lāts mahāprajāpati gautami lywā¬
a2	¬(-ñi) /// (kapilavās)tu riyac śmäl naṣ prutkoṣṣ oki śākkiñ śākkiṣināsyo
a3	/// (s)s(i) ke kälpe • säs nyagrodharām saṅkrāmā aśśi tāpärk mahānā¬
a4	¬(me)n2 n3 /// (wās)k(ā)ñcāñ wyāräs wināseñc acle pälkoräṣ träṅkäṣ muktikā ॥
a5	n4 /// träṅkäṣ ptāñkät käṣyāp śämlune prakässi yäm kupre aśśi lo
a6	/// (paṭṭī)ni träṅkäṣ śākkeṣi lāṃtse mahāprajāpati gautamis śāwaṃ skeya¬
a7	¬(syo) /// (papyu)täk tämyo tāpärk skamat prakäṣtär kupre aśśi ptāñkät käṣṣi lo kumnä¬
a8	¬(ṣ)n5 n6 n7 /// (॥)

1a	(k_ule)wāsaṃ klyomiṃ ; śākiṣi lāṃts ; gautami :
1b	amokäntwaṃ nu ; wāpäṃtsune ; p_ukaṃ käb1(rpi) (:)
1c	12σ
1d	5σ /// ; mänt pat nu täm ; papyutkāt : 1 ॥

*	paṭṭīni träṅkäṣ kupre ne wāpalyi
b2	n8 /// ālak yāmäs ॥ paṭṭinī träṅkäṣ ॥ aptsaradarśnaṃ ॥

1a	mäccāk ṣñi b3 11σ
1b	2σ /// pyāṣtṣā ; malkeyo ; pakkunt mäccāk ; sāmat-äm :
1c	mäccāk pewat ; mäccākäk ; b4n9 7σ
1d	4σ /// ; (mäccā)käk ; wāpat kanak ; wākmatsäṃ : 1 ॥

*	wāskāñc träṅkäṣ yneś ñuk ptāñkä¬
b5	¬(t) (käṣṣinäṣ) /// (par)mā vipaśyi ptāñkte s_unum pyāpyo śwātsi yoktsiyo kälymeyā spā¬
b6	¬(nte) /// (ptā)ñkät käṣyāp tskunteṃ mācar tāk • skamat śäk ṣäk pi p_ukälye śomi¬
b7	¬(ne) /// (kus) ṣurm tāpärk śākkeṣi lāts mäccāk kar kappās sāryā • mäccā¬
b8	¬(k)n10 (kar) /// kṣā śākkiśśi pälkäṣ mā erkātune pälkār klyomiṃ ttā

Translation

a1	... that (girl) says:
a1+	The queen of the Śākyas Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī has sent (me) (to ask when the Buddha-god the teacher) will come (from the city of Śrāvastī) to the city of Kapilavastu.
a2+	The Śākya men are, as it were, crowded by Śākya women, ...
a3+	... I have got the opportunity (to ask) whether at the Nyagrodhārāma monastery, he, Mahānāman (by name), (might) now ...
a4	... the lay-women worship the Vihāras.
a4	Having seen ..., Muktikā says:
a4+	\|\| (Paṭṭinī) says:
a5+	I come here to ask about the coming of the Buddha-god the teacher, when he (is about to come).
a6	(Paṭṭi)nī says:
a6+	With great efforts on the part of the Śākya queen Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī, (a cloth) has come into existence.
a7+	Therefore she now keeps asking when the Buddha-god, the teacher is about to arrive.
a8	The Śākya queen Gautamī, ... noblest among women,
a8+	among the skills however weaving is the lowiest of all.
b1	Why then did she care to do that?
b1	Paṭṭinī says:
b1+	If it was only a matter of weaving ...,
b2	(Muktikā says:) Besides this, (what) did she do?
b2	Paṭṭinī says:
b2	\|\| In the Aptsaradarśaṃ [tune] \|\|
b2+	She herself with her own (hands), ...
b3	she made (them) grow with boiled milk,
b3	she herself gathered them;
b3	she herself did the carding,
b3+	and she herself indeed ...
b4	... she (herself) indeed wove the excellent cotton sheet.
b4	The lay-woman says:
b4+	Very clearly, (from) the Buddha-god (the teacher), I, ...
b5+	formerly (she [Gautamī] worshipped) the Buddha Vipaśyin with perfumed ﬂower, with food and drink, properly [and] piously.
b6	... she became the foster mother of Buddha-god the teacher.
b6+	Always ... (was) of a sixteen years old girl.
b7	What (is) the reason now that the queen of the Śākyas herself planted the cotton,
b7+	[and] herself ...
b8	it shines among ... of the Śākyas,
b8	it is not despicable.
b8	Look, noble one ...
b1	1 \|\|
b4	1 \|\|

Other

b7	What is the reason now that the queen of the Śākyas has sown the cotton just by herself? (cf 147) (Peyrot 2013b: 284)

Commentary

Parallel texts

*	MaitrHami 3, 1-2

Philological commentary

*	This fragment contains part of the third act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; an Uy. parallel is MaitrHami III, 1a4-2a1. See also Pinault 1999: 196-7.
*	The translation and the following commentary are adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 148.
n1	The agreement between the Tocharian and the Uyghur text in the ﬁrst lines is not very close.
n3	In the Uyghur text, the name of the lay-woman (upāsikā-) is not given until MaitrHami 3, 4 a12.
n4	The girl Paṭṭinī is now speaking. Starting from here, the agreement between the Tocharian and the Uyghur text (MaitrHami 3, 1 a15ff.) is closer.
n6	kulewāsaṃ is the first word of a stanza of the type 4 x 12 (5/7) syllables.
n7	p_ukaṃ: reading corrected after Schmidt 1999b: 281.
n8	aptsaradarśnaṃ: a stanza of 4 x 14 (7/7) syllables.

Remarks

*	The commentary is adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 148.

Linguistic commentary

n2	acle is a new form of uncertain meaning.
n5	The form corresponding to TB wapāttsa should be TA. wāpats, the abstract of which would be wāptsune. Therefore, wāpäṃtsune must be derived from wāpaṃts*, which may be the term for female weaver.
n9	Uyghur upasanč (in the corresponding line and elsewhere) shows a partial resanskritization of a TA wāskāñc, corresponding to Skt. upāsikā- ‘lay-woman’.
n10	The reading ttā appears to be preferable to ntā: the onset tt- remains unexplained.

References

Edition

Ji et al. 1998

Translations

Peyrot 2012a: a6 (203); Peyrot 2013b: a7 (233, 282), b7 (284)

Bibliography

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 2012a

Peyrot, Michaël. 2012a. “The Tocharian A match of the Tocharian B obl.sg. -ai.” Tocharian and Indo-European Studies 13: 181–220.

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.