YQ III.3

Known as:	YQ III.3; YQ 1.44
Cite this page as:	"YQ III.3". 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-yqiii3 (accessed 14 Nov. 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 3.3
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Drama
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Object
Manuscript:	Yanqi
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	8

Images

Transliteration

a1	/// kśo¯ ¯nt a kri tā ni kā¯ ¯ñä • e ṅka lsu¯ ¯nt ma ska ntra • wce
a2	/// pa lko kuli wra so miṃ pā pṣu ne yi¯ ¯s wa rsnāṃ tsu¯ ¯s̝ • ä ñcaṃ
a3	/// ka lyta¯ ¯r • ta nä ṣṣa ci ya saṃ ka nta ntu yo si ddhā rthe nā kma¯ ¯nt tra
a4	/// [wā]¯ ¯ñ[ä] si dā rtheṃ kā¯ ¯ts kā ma¯ ¯nt kule wā ñta ta mṣā ntaṃ • kule wā ñpyā ṣtṣā ntaṃ
a5	/// ·tra \|\| tma¯ ¯s̝ ṣo maṃ tra ṅki¯ ¯ñcä ṣu¯ ¯rm pa lko ra¯ ¯s̝ ptā ññä kta ñṣo me swra sa śśi
a6	/// [ta] myo ma rwa sśā rwre¯ ¯s śā kke śśi ra ke yā ma rka mpa¯ ¯l klyo ṣlu ne yä¯ ¯s̝ ṣkā rā
a7	/// mnā śśi pā ka rna slu ne • o ka¯ ¯t sne ke tkaṃ saṃ sa¯ ¯s tsa lpo¯ ¯nt wa sna sa ma¯ ¯s
a8	/// ka kmu¯ ¯nt wa¯ ¯s • na ṣnu mā nā ka ñta rta myo pi cä kka tswa sma rka mpa¯ ¯l klyo
b1	/// [n]ā¯ ¯ñä kule wā¯ ¯ñä ptā ñka tka ṣṣi na cka lka¯ ¯r ptā ñka tka ṣṣi kule wā śśi pa ltsa
b2	/// śśi kā swo ne ytu • wa¯ ¯s̝t e kra mā ype¯ ¯ñcä • kā kro pu¯ ¯nt a kaṃ tsu ne
b3	/// [s]ma śśä¯ ¯l wa ñi wa ṅke ṣi su kwä rpnā ntra • kule wā sa¯ ¯s̝ ptā ñä kta ñpra tti ka ptā
b4	/// [ra]¯ ¯s̝ kā tkmāṃ nāṃ tsu¯ ¯nt kule wā ñtra ṅki¯ ¯ñcä hi¯ ¯śtä tā ki¯ ¯s̝ ṣtā kkru kke śśi ku
b5	/// rki śo ṣṣaṃ kā swo ne ṣi wā ka mṣe¯ ¯s̝ • sa¯ ¯m pkā¯ ¯k ptā ñka tka ṣṣi wa saṃ tra
b6	/// ¯l klyo saṃ sa ma¯ ¯s \|\| tma¯ ¯s̝ ptā ñka tka ṣṣi śā kke ṣi nā śśi ta mne
b7	/// ma rka mpa laṃ s̝a¯ ¯k tmāṃ pa raṃ ka lpā¯ ¯nt^• • tri tma rka mpa laṃ śtwa rtmāṃ
b8	/// ka¯ ¯lp spā rtu ku cne ta¯ ¯m • tri ma rka mpa¯ ¯l ā kṣi ñlu ne yaṃ •

Transcription

a1	n1 n2 /// (seni)k śont akritānikāñ • eṅkalsunt mäskanträ • wce
a2	n3 /// pälko k_uli wrasomiṃ pāpṣuneyis wars nāṃtsuṣ • äñcaṃ¬
a3	¬(ne)n4 /// kälytär • tanäṣṣ aci yasäṃ käntantuyo siddhārthe nākmant trä¬
a4	¬(ṅkäṣ)n5 /// (k_ule)wāñ sidārtheṃ kāts kāmant k_ulewāñ tatämṣānt-äṃ • k_ulewāñ pyāṣtṣānt-äṃ
a5	n6 /// (nākäṣ)trä ॥ tmäṣ ṣomaṃ träṅkiñc ṣurm pälkoräṣ ptāññäktañ ṣomes wrasaśśi
a6	n7 /// tämyo mar was śārwres śākkeśśi rakeyā märkampal klyoṣluneyäṣ ṣkārā
a7	n8 /// (wra)mnāśśi pākär naslune • okät sne ke tkaṃsaṃ säs tsälpont was nasamäs
a8	n9 /// kakmunt was • naṣ nu mā nākäñtär tämyo pic-äkk ats was märkampal klyo¬
b1	¬(ssi)n10 /// (śākkeṣi)nāñ k_ulewāñ ptāñkät käṣṣinac kalkar ptāñkät käṣṣi k_ulewāśśi pältsä¬
b2	¬(k) /// (k_ulewā)śśi kāswoneytu • waṣt ekrä mā ypeñc • kākropunt akäṃtsune¬
b3	¬(ytu)n11 n12 /// (to)smaśśäl wañi waṅkeṣi suk wärpnānträ • k_ulewāsäṣ ptāñäktañ prattika-ptā¬
b4	¬(ñäktañ)n12 n13 /// (kaklyuṣu)räṣ kātkmāṃ nāṃtsunt k_ulewāñ träṅkiñc hiśt tākiṣ ṣtākkrukkeśśi ku¬
b5	¬(sne)n14 /// (ā)rkiśoṣṣaṃ kāswoneṣi wākäm ṣeṣ • säm pkā-k ptāñkät käṣṣi wasäṃ trä¬
b6	¬(ṅkäṣ)n15 /// (märkampa)l klyosäṃsamäs ॥ tmäṣ ptāñkät käṣṣi śākkeṣināśśi tämne
b7	n16 n17 (wkänyo) /// (wät) märkampalaṃ ṣäk tmāṃ paräṃ kälpānt • trit märkampalaṃ śtwar tmāṃ
b8	/// kälp spārtu kuc ne täm • tri märkampal ākṣiñluneyaṃ •

Translation

a1	... they are ... (without) conscience, ungrateful, [and] passionate.
a1+	... having looked at ... Woman (and) female being have become a stain on moral conduct.
a2+	Where ... (does not) remain (pure).
a3+	Starting with all that, Siddhārtha tells sins of yours by the hundreds.
a4	Women have carried Siddhārtha in their womb,
a4	women have given birth to him,
a4	women have raised him.
a4+	... he blames?
a5	\|\| Then some women say:
a5+	Having seen the reason, the Buddhas (blame the defects) of some living beings.
a6+	Therefore do not (send) us back from hearing the Law because of words of the arrogant Śākyas!
a7	... the becoming revealed of (six rare) things.
a7+	We have been liberated concerning the eight chanceless places.
a8	We have come (to meet the Buddha-god the teacher).
a8	May he not put blame on us!
a8	Therefore let us go
a8+	to listen to the Law!
b1	The (Śākya) women went to the Buddha-god the teacher.
b1+	The Buddha-god the teacher (understood) the thought of the women.
b2	... (ﬁve) virtues of women:
b2	They do not make the house empty,
b2+	the accumulated possessions ...
b3	... together with them the men enjoy the pleasure of beauty and pleasant talk.
b3+	From women, Buddhas, Pratyekabuddhas, ... (have come into the world).
b4	Having heard that, and having become glad, the women say:
b4+	Shame on the denouncers, who ...
b5	(who) was the paragon of virtue in the world,
b5+	he the Buddha-god teacher speaks to us in every way.
b6	... we will hear the Law!
b6+	\|\| Thereupon the Buddha-god the teacher (preached the Law) in such a way to the Śākya women.
b7	(the second time), at the teaching of the Law, sixty thousand obtained the glory.
b7+	The third time, at the teaching of the Law, forty thousand ...
b8	... proﬁt came their way,
b8	as follows:
b8	three times at the teaching of the Law ...
a1	...

Other

a8	He will not put blame on us, let us therefore go to listen to the law! (Peyrot 2013b: 223)
b4	Shame be on the denouncers, who … (cf 157) (Peyrot 2013b: 239)

Commentary

Linguistic commentary

*	The commentary is adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 158.
n1	The restored collocation (seni)k śont is the nominative feminine plural of TA senik śo, for which see Sieg et al. 1931: 322; cf. also TB senik śawa (THT 534: a3).
n7	śārwres is the accusative plural masculine of TA śārwär, the equivalent of TB śarware* 'arrogant'; cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 b1-2.
n8	In this context, the formsäs cannot be the nominative singular masculine of the demonstrative. It may be a postposition governing the locative, to be translated tentatively ‘with respect to’.
n9	The collocation naṣ nākäm in YQ I.3: b6 suggests that naṣ may be very close in meaning to nākäm ‘blame’. In the present passage, naṣ occurs in combination with the verb nāk-; it may be used as a quasi internal object of ‘to blame’.
n13	The form ṣtākkrukkeśśi is genitive plural, probably of a deverbative compound similar in structure to TA ri-pāṣe ‘protector of the city’. The ﬁrst element ṣtāk may permit an analysis as ā-case extended by emphatic -k of ṣät ‘downwards’; it cannot be decided whether the verb stem involved is to be identiﬁed as kruk- or ruk-. If one wants to consider the possibility that -kk- in the verbal part of the compound was assimilated to the ﬁrst occurrence of -kk-, -rukke* could be derived from a -rutke, on the root rutk-* ‘fortbewegen’, which would mean that the meaning of the compound could be reconstructed as ‘one who is moving someone down’.

Parallel texts

*	MaitrHami 3, 3-4

Remarks

*	This fragment contains part of the third act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; an Uy. parallel is MaitrHami III, 3a11-4a15. See also Pinault 1999: 196-7.
*	The translation and the following commentary are adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 158.

Philological commentary

n2	The beginning of this leaf corresponds to MaitrHami 3, 3 a11, and the last line to 4 a15.
n3	This sentence is not matched exactly by the Uyghur text, cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 a16-17.
n4	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 a19-20.
n5	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 a23ff.
n6	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 a29f.
n10	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 b12ff.
n11	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 b22-24.
n12	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 3 b24-25
n14	pkāk: Schmidt's (Schmidt 1999b: 281) correction to p_ukāk cannot be confirmed.
n15	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 4 a3ff.
n16	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 4 a7.
n17	kalpānt_\^•: reading corrected after Schmidt 1999b: 281.

References

Edition

Ji et al. 1998

Translations

Peyrot 2013b: a8 (223), b4 (239)

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.

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.

Sieg et al. 1931

Sieg, Emil, Wilhelm Siegling, and Wilhelm Schulze. 1931. Tocharische Grammatik. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.