Halas Sattasai

Author(s): Hermen Tieken
Publisher: Leiden

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INTRODUCTION
The present study is preparatory to a critical edition of the complete text of the Sattasai.' The first edition of the Sattasat consists of four successive publications by A. Weber issued in 1870, 1874, 1881 and 1883 respectively, the last one appearing precisely one hundred years ago. Weber used altogether eighteen MSS which he divided into six recensions. As the basis for his edition he selected the so-called Vulgata-recension, which according to him was the most authentic one. However, a closer look at the text of the Vulgata reveals many instances where its readings are obviously secondary compared to those of the other recensions.' Another feature which becomes clear from Weber's edition is the great number of variants available for the text of each individual Gāthā. These variants, besides including the usual number of accidental errors, also, and more importantly, concern entirely different words, Pādas or even hemistiches. These factors call for a new edition of the text, in the course of which the question of the stemmatical relations between the MSS should be taken up anew. .. The present edition thus begins with the study of the stemmatical relations (Part I). In the edition itself, of which in this first volume only a sample consisting of the first 50 Gathās is given, it has been attempted to establish for each Gāthā a text as close to the original as was possible with the MSS available (Part II, Chapter 3).
The stemma involves ten of Weber's eighteen MSS, namely those which contain the Prākrit text. The other eight MSS contain only a Sanskrit commentary or a Chāyā; thus they need not be considered. Consequently the stemma covers five out of Weber's six recensions, the so-called x-recension being available only through a commentary. To these ten MSS could, however, be added three so far unknown MSS from South-India. The latter three MSS contain a seventh recension of the Sattasal, which, after Weber's Telinga and Second Telinga, will henceforth be referred to as the Third South-Indian recension.
One of the results of the stemma is the conclusion that the MSS are basically divided into two branches, a South Indian and a North-Indian one. Furthermore it appears that all available MSS, South Indian as well as North-Indian, ultimately go back to one single North-Indian MS which