Encore Pratityasamutpadahrdaya Karika Of Nagarjuna

SR No.: 269709
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: V V Gokhale
Publisher: V V Gokhale
Total Pages: 7
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 627 KB

Page 3

64
v. V. GOKHALE
Last month my friend and colleague : Dr. M. G. Dhadphale of the Fergusson College brought to my notice 19 photographs of Sanskrit-mss. written, not very elegantly, in the · Gilgit' script (of about 600 A. D.), which he had obtained from the National Archives of the Govt. of India, ( New Delhi), where, as reported by Dr. P. V. Bapat they were removed for safe custody from the Srinagara Museum of Kashmir in 1947. In these photographs he expected to find the Sanskrit text of the Prasenajit-gathā, of which Chinese and Tibetan versions are available, and which formed a part of his research studies; but on a close examination of them, based on the marginal numbering of the folios , it was found, that these 19 photographs contained not less than four different fragg ments of Sanskrit texts, among which the Prasenajit-găthăssought for, occupied barely one folio (i. e. 2 photos ), showin, the ending colophon of the text as : Prasenajit-gathāh samăptăh 11 On the other hand, on three of the remaining folios (i. e. 6 photos), we met quite unexpectedly with our Pratityasamutpada-hrdaya text, followed by a longer fragment of the same commentary as the above ( with a few unimportant variants ) which, however, still remains incomplete ! (An attempt has been made below to reconstruct the missing part. The photographs have been reproduced herewith, showing the lines (1 to 5) and folio numbers (la to 3b). For the decipherment of the script, the specimens provided by Dr. P. V. Bapat in his article on the subject were, among others, helpful.
(4) See : P. V. Bapat: Gilgit manuscripts and numerical symbols (Journal of the Oriental Institute, Baroda, Vol. XI, no. 2 December 1961 ) Pp. 127-131.
(5) “Another valuable collection of Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts” (Annals of the B.O. R. I., Vol. XXX, Parts III-IV, Poona 1950) Pp. 241-253 ( with Plates ).
Poona, 30-1-78.
Do