YQ III.6

Known as:	YQ III.6; YQ 1.25
Cite this page as:	"YQ III.6". 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-yqiii6 (accessed 19 Jun. 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 3.6
Text genre:	Literary
Text subgenre:	Drama
Verse/Prose:	prose; verse
Meter:	5555 (1x), 444343 (1x), 55 (1x), 4443 (1x); 543 (4x)
Object
Manuscript:	Yanqi
Material:	ink on paper
Form:	Poṭhī
Number of lines:	8

Images

Transliteration

a1	/// pa lke¯ ¯ts gau ta mṣi lāṃ tse ka na kṣi ñe mi sa¯ ¯m tma ṣtra
a2	/// ·[pa] śu ne pā ka rnāṃ tsu ca mka nkaṃ : ma ntne po lkā tseṃ kro pwa tsu
a3	/// • ka tko na peṃ ṣā¯ ¯s wsā lu ye twe syo ā ṣāṃ wa ssi ñä kta śśi
a4	/// ptā ñka tka ṣṣi yā¯ ¯p lyka¯ ¯lyä wsā yo kāṃ ya tsa śśä¯ ¯l sa¯ ¯m a rṣa ṣi ntra
a5	/// kk[e] ṣi lāṃ¯ ¯ts tsa raṃ ka na kyo ptā ñkä¯ ¯t ka ṣṣi na ckā tse ka kmu ra¯ ¯s̝ tso
a6	/// t[ra] ṅka¯ ¯s̝ \|\| ka ntsa ka rṣnaṃ \|\| yso mo kā swo ne wi nā sa mci nā ta kse : a
a7	/// [s]· wā ska lpi ntra : tsa lpi¯ ¯ñcä ñu kko ki ña re lwā ka ṣpre tā sa¯ ¯s̝ : 1 \|\| ptā
a8	/// s̝a gau ta mṣi lā¯ ¯ts ā mpi tsa rnaṃ wsā yo kaṃ ka na¯ ¯k eṃ tsu¯ ¯s tso pa tsaṃ
b1	/// ñu wsā yo kka na kṣi ñe mi ma ccā kyā nā nā na sku • ptā ñka tka ṣyā
b2	/// myo eṃ tsi ta rca¯ ¯s̝ ño mka lywā tskā ru ṇi kka ṣṣi wa saṃ tu ṅki ñlu
b3	/// tt[i] śpa raṃ ṣi knā nmu ne yo sa ska na¯ ¯k ku pre ne pi ssa ṅka¯ ¯c wa wu tā¯ (–)
b4	/// [na]¯ ¯k eṃ tsā tra ptā ñka tka ṣyā¯ ¯p e¯ ¯l e s̝ta mṣu rma ṣṣa kka¯ ¯ts klyo ma ntā
b5	/// • ta ryā kwe pi la kṣa ñi sa lu pyu tkā se ñcäṃ • pu tti śpa raṃ ṣi se
b6	/// [ñ]ka tka ṣṣi • gau ta miṃ lā tsa ctra ṅka¯ ¯s̝ pi ssa ṅka cgau ta mi caṃ ka
b7	/// ssa ṅkpe nu yä rkā yā mu tā śśi \|\| ta mka klyu ṣu ra¯ ¯s̝ lā
b8	/// ka wle ṣe ma ntnu ta¯ ¯s̝ ptā ñka tka ṣṣi mā eṃ tsi ta rñi • tma¯ (–)

Transcription

1a	pälkets gautamṣi ; lāṃtse kanakṣi ; ñemi säm tmäṣ träa2(ṅ;kträ)n2 4σ
1b	12σ /// ; (w)päśune ; pākär nāṃtsu ; cam kankaṃ :
1c	mänt ne polkātseṃ ; kropwatsua3(ne) 1σ
1d	15σ

*	/// • kätko napeṃṣās wsālu yetwesyo āṣāṃ wassi ñäktaśśi
a4	n3 n4 /// ptāñkät käṣṣiyāp lykäly wsā yokāṃ yatsaśśäl säm arṣaṣinträ
a5	/// (śā)kkeṣi lāṃts tsaraṃ kanakyo ptāñkät käṣṣinac kātse kakmuräṣ tso¬
a6	(patsäṃ)n5 (ynāñmuneyo) /// träṅkäṣ ॥ kantsakarṣnaṃ ॥

1a	ysomo kāswone ; wināsam-ci ; nātäk se :
1b	aa7(pärkär) 9σ
1c	7σ /// s(e)wās ; kälpinträ :
1d	tsälpiñc ñukk oki ; ñare lwākäṣ ; pretāsäṣ : 1 ॥

*	ptā¬
a8	(ñkät)n6 (käṣṣi) /// (tmä)ṣ{†ä} gautamṣi lāts āmpi tsarnaṃ wsā yokäṃ kanak eṃtsus tsopatsäṃ
b1	/// ñu wsā yok kanakṣi ñemi mäccākyānā nānäsku • ptāñkät käṣyā¬
b2	(p)n7 /// (tä)myo eṃtsitär caṣ ñom-kälywāts kāruṇik käṣṣi wasaṃ tuṅkiñlu¬
b3	(neyo)n8 /// (pu)ttiśparäṃṣi knānmuneyo säs kanak kupre ne pissaṅkac wawu tā(ṣ)
b4	n9 /// (ka)nak eṃtsāträ ptāñkät käṣyāp el eṣ täm ṣurmaṣ ṣakkats klyomäntā¬
b5	(p) (meträkyāp) /// • taryāk wepi lakṣañi salu pyutkāseñc-äṃ • puttiśparäṃṣi se
b6	n10 (lāntune) /// (ptā)ñkät käṣṣi • gautamiṃ lātsac träṅkäṣ pissaṅkac gautami caṃ ka¬
b7	(nak)n11 /// (pi)ssaṅk penu yärkā yāmu tāś-śi ॥ täm kaklyuṣuräṣ lā¬
b8	(ts) /// (kana)k{†ä} wleṣe mänt nu täṣ ptāñkät käṣṣi mā eṃtsitär-ñi • tmä(ṣ)

Translation

a1+	... shining, this jewel of a cotton cloth, therefore by the Gautamid queen (is said?) ...
a2	(her) skill(?) has become evident in this cotton cloth.
a2+	Like an accumulation of lightning, ...
a3+	... a piece of clothing having exceeded human dresses in reﬁnements, it is worthy of gods ...
a4+	... it may go well with the tender and gold-colored skin of the Buddha-god the teacher.
a5+	... the Śākya queen with the cotton cloth in her hand, having come close to the Buddha-god the teacher, (with) great ... she says:
a6	\|\| In the Kantsakarṣaṃ [tune] \|\| I venerate your total goodness, my lord and son.
a6+	A (long time) ...
a7	1. \|\|
a7	... may they have sons. May they be liberated like me from the hell, from the animals, from the ghosts.
a7+	The Buddha(-god the teacher) ...
a8+	Then the Gaudamid queen having taken hold with both hands of the gold-colored cotton cloth, with great (respect?) ...
b1	... the new gold-colored jewel of a cotton cloth spun by myself.
b1+	For the Buddha-god the teacher ...
b2+	Therefore he may take it, the renowned compassionate teacher, (out of) love for us.
b3	... with the knowledge belonging to the rank of Buddha:
b4	When this cotton cloth will be given to the Community, ... (if) he takes this cotton cloth, he will give it as a present to the Buddha-god the teacher.
b4+	For this reason, (will) the ... of the noble (Metrak) certainly ...
b5	the thirty-two Lakṣaṇas will in their entirety appear on him.
b5+	... the ... of the heir with the rank of a Buddha ...
b6	... the Buddha-god the teacher says to queen Gautamī:
b6+	Gautamī, you (give) this cotton cloth to the Community!
b7	... the Community too will be honored by you.
b7+	\|\| Having heard that, the queen ...
b8	... I have prepared (this cotton cloth). Why is the Buddha-god the teacher not prepared to accept it from me? Then, ...

Other

b2	May he therefore take it, the renowned compassionate teacher, (out of) love for us. (Peyrot 2013b: 238)
b3+	If this cotton cloth is given to the community, … (Maitreya) will take the cotton cloth, and he will give it as a present to the Buddha, the teacher. (cf 169, slightly different) (Peyrot 2013b: 636)
b5	The thirty-two lakṣaṇas will in their entirety appear on him. (169) (Peyrot 2013b: 636)
b7	… the community too will be honored by you. (169) (Peyrot 2013b: 629)
b8	… I have prepared (this cotton cloth). Why would the Buddha, the teacher not take it from me? (Peyrot 2013b: 631)

Commentary

Linguistic commentary

*	The commentary is adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 170.
n2	The pa is last in a ligature; as a form of three syllables is to be expected according to the meter, should a reading (w)paśune be considered? This form would be a variant of opäśśune, and the words opäśśi, opäśśune very characteristically occur in the context of skills. Otherwise, wpäśune* would be the abstract based on a form wpäś* or wpäśi, which had to be derived from the root wäp-* ‘to weave’; in that case, the hypothetic wpäśune should mean ‘art of weaving’.
n3	The verb arṣaṣiññ- is a deadjectival stem comparable to sukaṣiññ- (Sieg et al. 1931: 479). The underlying noun aräṣ* appears to be unknown; is it to be considered a derivation of the stem found in TB ersna ‘shape’?

Parallel texts

*	MaitrHami 3, 6-7

Remarks

*	This fragment contains part of the third act of the Maitreyasamitināṭaka; an Uy. parallel is MaitrHami III, 6a20-7a4. See also Pinault 1999: 196-7.
*	The translation and the following commentary are adapted from Ji et al. 1998: 170.

Philological commentary

n1	There are lacunae in the Uyghur text at this point, but the beginning of this leaf corresponds roughly to MaitrHami 3, 6 a21, and its end to 7 a4. TA pälkets is the ﬁrst word of a stanza of the type 20 (5/5/5/5) + 22 (8/7/7) + 10 (5/5) + 15 (8/7).
n4	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 a28-29.
n5	kantsakarṣnaṃ: a stanza of 4 x 12 (5/7) syllables. For the following discourse, cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b2ff.
n6	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b10 ff.
n7	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b16-17.
n8	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b20ff.
n9	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b23ff.
n10	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b28-29.
n11	Cf. MaitrHami 3, 6 b30f.

References

Edition

Ji et al. 1998

Translations

Peyrot 2012a: a1 (203); Peyrot 2013b: b2 (238), b3 b4 (636), b5 (636), b7 (629), b8 (631)

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.

Sieg et al. 1931

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