YQ III.12

Known as:	YQ III.12; YQ 1.27
Cite this page as:	"YQ III.12". 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-yqiii12 (accessed 09 Sep. 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 3.12
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	/// ¯p a ji teṃ ṣā mna śśä¯ ¯l ci tra ra the swa ṣtwaṃ piṃ twā ta¯ ¯cä ytsi
a2	/// ka[ṃ] nyo a ji teṃ wi re skā wä lte na sṣā mnā sta lśi nā sso ki
a3	/// – • tma kca mi yu tkā lu ne pā ka rtā¯ ¯k kra mpo¯ ¯nt pa ltsa kyo ā
a4	/// ·ñ· sne pa rnā pku cne ā rśo a ṣṭa mi pa rno¯ ¯nt ko naṃ : wi re ṣā mnā ñka
a5	/// – ne mo klā saṃ mo klā śśi yä¯ ¯rk yā mu rā tso pa¯ ¯ts pa raṃ : wi re e kre kā
a6	/// 1 \|\| tma¯ ¯s̝ ā ṣā ni¯ ¯k me tra¯ ¯k ci tra ra the skra mpā lu ne pa lko ra¯ ¯s̝ a ji
a7	/// lpā lu ne ṣiṃ ā kā lyo wa s̝ta¯ ¯s̝ la ntu ñcä¯ ¯s ptā ñkte ā kla ṣlye¯ ¯s mo
a8	/// [t](·)· lpā lu ne ā kā lyo wa s̝ta ṣla ntu ptā ñä kte ā ka ls̝a¯ ¯l tā¯ ¯s̝ : kā
b1	/// [ma] ska ta rko naṃ śtwa rā¯ ¯k tmā ni spa¯ ¯t yä¯ ¯rk wä rpnā tsi : ku cpra ks̝a¯ ¯l wi¯ ¯r
b2	/// ṅka s̝ta mne tu tā pa¯ ¯rk ca ṣi ma rka mpa lpā kṣi ñmaṃ tne sa¯ ¯s pkaṃ ṣi ya
b3	/// ¯s̝ ptā ñka tka ṣyā¯ ¯p yā tña lsa¯ ¯s mā wa saṃ \|\| tma¯ ¯s̝ ci tra ra the kā tse ka kmu
b4	/// ¯nt pa ltsa kyo tsru caṃ wi nā ssi le¯ ¯k yā mu ra¯ ¯s̝ tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ pi¯ ¯cä a ne
b5	/// prā ryo s̝a rpa smāṃ tra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ pla ma¯ ¯s • tma ṣwä rce spa ktā ni kāṃ a¯ ¯ts
b6	/// śśä¯ ¯l ra ri twu¯ ¯nt sne ynā ñmu ne yo su ko ra ṣṣo ma ka lyme s̝ma
b7	/// rp[o] ra¯ ¯s̝ wa ltsu rā tsru caṃ ci tra ra the sma rka mpa¯ ¯l ā kṣi ññu ra
b8	/// [¯]s̝ ā rśo pa rno¯ ¯nt a ṣṭa mi ko naṃ sne pa raṃ ma ska mā¯ ¯r kuya

Transcription

a1	/// p ajiteṃ ṣāmnaśśäl citrarathes waṣtwaṃ piṃtwātac ytsi
a2	/// (metra)käṃnyo ajiteṃ wires kāwältenäs ṣāmnās tälśināss oki
a3	n1 /// – • tm-äk cami yutkālune pākär tāk krämpont pältsäkyo ā¬
a4	¬(ṣānikāṃ)n2

1a	4σ /// ·ñ· ; sne parnāp ; kuc ne ārśo ; aṣṭami ; parnont konaṃ :
1b	wire ṣāmnāñ ; ka° a5 13σ
1c	3σ /// – ne ; moklāsaṃ ; moklāśśi yärk ; yāmurā ; tsopats paräṃ :
1d	wire ekre ; kāa6(wälte;nāñ)n3 10σ /// 1 ॥

*	tmäṣ āṣānik metrak citrarathes krämpālune pälkoraṣ aji¬
a7	¬(tenac) /// (tsä)lpāluneṣiṃ ākālyo waṣtäṣ lantuñcäs ptāñkte ākläṣlyes mo¬
a8	¬(klās) /// t(sä)lpālune ākālyo waṣtäṣ lantu ptāñäkte ākälṣäl tāṣ : kā°
b1	n4 /// mäskatär konaṃ śtwarāk tmānis pät yärk wärpnātsi : kuc prakṣäl wir
b2	/// (trä)ṅkäṣ tämne tu tāpärk caṣi märkampal pākṣiñ mäṃt ne säs pkaṃ ṣiya¬
b3	¬(k) /// (tmä)ṣ ptāñkät käṣyāp yātñal säs mā wasäṃ ॥ tmäṣ citrarathe kātse kakmu¬
b4	¬(räṣ) /// (krämpo)nt pältsäkyo tsru caṃ wināssi lek yāmuräṣ träṅkäṣ pic ane
b5	/// prāryo ṣärpäsmāṃ träṅkäṣ plamäs • tmäṣ wärce spaktānikāṃ ats
b6	/// śśäl raritwunt sne ynāñmuneyo sukoräṣ ṣoma kälyme ṣmä¬
b7	¬(ṣ) /// (wä)rporäṣ waltsurā tsru caṃ citrarathes märkampal ākṣiññurä¬
b8	¬(ṣ) /// (nä)ṣ ārśo parnont aṣṭami konaṃ sne paräṃ mäskamār k_uya¬
*	¬(lte)

Translation

a1+	... together with the monk Ajita, to beg for alms in the house of Citraratha ...
a2+	(Metr)ak and Ajita, young and attractive monks like ...
a3	Thereupon his sorrow came to the fore, and with a worried mind (to the venerable) ...
a4	... of me, a person without status, when today on the glorious eighth day, young monks ...
a5	... among the old ones homage to the old means great glory;
a5+	young, empty, (attractive) ...
a6+	Then the venerable Metrak having noted Citraratha's sorrow, to Ajita ...
a7+	... those having left the house, wanting salvation, the (old ones) ..., the disciples of the Buddha ...
a8+	having left the house, wanting salvation, he will be a disciple of the Buddha...
b1	is (in a position) to receive every day the homage to the Stūpa consisting of 400,000 [coins].
b1	What is the problem?
b1+	Young ...
b2	... says:
b2+	This being the case, you pronounce now for him the Law, so that he is in everything together ...
b3	Then he is to be controlled by Buddha-god the teacher, not by us.
b3+	\|\| Then Citraratha, having come close, ... with a (worried) mind having made only some weak gesture of veneration, says:
b4+	Go inside ...
b5	... pointing with his ﬁnger, says:
b5	Sit down!
b5+	Thereupon, an inferior servant indeed ...
b6+	having brought (?) without the due respect combined with ..., he sits down by himself ...
b7+	having received ..., and having brieﬂy proclaimed some basic teaching of the Law to Citraratha, ...
b8	I am today on the glorious eighth day without status.
b8	Why?

Other

a8	Having left the house in the wish for salvation, he will be a disciple of the Buddha. (cf 197) (Peyrot 2013b: 629)

Commentary

Parallel texts

*	MaitrHami 3, 11-12?; MaitrSiŋgim

Remarks

*	This fragment contains part of the third act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; Uy. parallels are MaitrHami 3, 11b(?)-12b(?) and MaitrSiŋgim, Taf. 25+49 (Tekin 1980: 222). See also Pinault 1999: 196-7.
*	The translation and the following commentary are adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 198.

Philological commentary

n1	Cf. Uyghur text, Turfan version, Taf. 99, "Rückseite" (but to be turned over) = recto, lines 4-5 (Tekin 1980: 225). For this leaf, there is no matching text in the Hami version of Maitrisimit.
n2	Cf. Tekin 1980: 225, Taf. 99, recto, lines 7-9.
n3	Cf. Tekin 1980: 221, Taf. 92, verso, lines 4-7.
n4	Cf. Taf. 99, "Vorderseite" (but to be turned over) = verso, lines 3-7 (Tekin 1980: 224).

References

Edition

Ji et al. 1998

Translations

Peyrot 2013b: a8 (629)

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 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.

Tekin 1980

Tekin, Şinasi. 1980. Maitrisimit nom bitig. Die uigurische Übersetzung eines Werkes der buddhistischen Vaibhāṣika-Schule. 1. Teil: Transliteration, Übersetzung, Anmerkungen. 2. Teil: Analytischer und rückläufiger Index. Schriften zur Geschichte und Kultur des Alten Orients, Berliner Turfantexte, IX. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.