Andrea Schlosser on Gandhara manuscripts

"A glimpse into a hidden past – the rediscovery, deciphering and translation of the earliest Buddhist manuscripts"
by Andrea Schlosser (Institut für Indologie und Tibetologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

Abstract: The subject of this presentation are manuscripts from ancient Gandhāra (modern Northwest Pakistan and East Afghanistan), which came to light during the last two decades. They are written in the Kharoṣṭhī script and contain mostly texts in a Middle Indian dialect named Gāndhārī, although some Sanskrit specimens exist as well. These are the earliest known Buddhist manuscripts, dating from between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE. What makes them special is that they are direct witnesses for the time when Buddhist texts – previously transmitted only orally – were written down and the Mahāyāna literature began to evolve. I will give an overview of the material known to date and present the current work on some of the manuscripts that are being studied in the new project “Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra” at the University of Munich and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

As usual the lecture will be followed by wine and snacks.

Time and Place: Tuesday November 27th, 16:15-18:00, Seminarrom 10 P.A.Munchs hus


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For more information, go to: Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhara

The discovery of the earliest Buddhist manuscripts – written in Gāndhārī language and Kharoṣṭhī script and dating from the 1st c. BCE to the 4th c. CE – has revolutionized our understanding of this formative phase of Buddhism. On the way from India through Gandhāra to Central Asia and China, Buddhism turned into a world religion, and Gandhāra played a central role in the development of Buddhist scholasticism, Mahāyāna Buddhism and Buddhist art. The project ‘Early Buddhist manuscripts from Gandhāra: religious literature at the interface of India, Central Asia and China’ completes the edition of all known Gāndhārī manuscripts, contributes to the compilation of the Dictionary of Gāndhārī, and prepares a comprehensive Historical Grammar of Gāndhārī, Paleography of Kharoṣṭhī, and History of Gandhāran Literature and of Buddhism in Gandhāra. It collaborates with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project (University of Washington) in the study of the British Library collection of Gāndhārī scrolls and continues the work of the DFG project ‘The Bajaur collection of Buddhist Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts’ (Freie Universität Berlin, 2005–12). Funding is provided by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities under the auspices of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

The Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra project has been designed by Stefan Baums (Munich) and Ingo Strauch (Lausanne) and developed together with Jens‐Uwe Hartmann (Munich) and Harry Falk (Berlin). It consists of three areas of research (‘Gāndhārī Literature,’ ‘Gāndhārī Language’ and ‘Database’) and two phases (2012–25: editing of source texts and building of the database, and 2026–2032: completion of the Dictionary of Gāndhārī and preparation of a Historical Grammar of Gāndhārī, Paleography of Kharoṣṭhī, and History of Gandhāran Literature and of Buddhism in Gandhāra).

In their text editions, the project’s contributors focus on the Abhidharma (scholastic) and Mahāyāna literature of Gandhāra, representing the formative phase of two intellectual and religious currents that became foundational for the further development of Buddhism in South Asia and beyond. The editorial division of labor is as follows:

Jens‐Uwe Hartmann: Sanskrit manuscripts from Gandhāra.

Harry Falk: early Buddhist verse collections (Arthp and DhpSp); the Perfection of Wisdom Mahāyāna sūtra (ASP); a verse composition on the life of the Buddha (SC 2); and a collection of religious stories (AvSp).

Stefan Baums: two commentaries on early Buddhist verses (NirdL1 and NirdL3); a commentary on the Saṃgītisūtra (SaṅgCm, in collaboration with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project); four verse compositions in praise of the Buddha (StoB1, StoB2, StoL and BC 17); a scholastic treatise (AbhidhL2, in collaboration with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project); and fragments of commentaries (AbhidhB1, AbhidhB2, AbhidhB3, AbhidhB4, AbhidhB5, AbhidhL1 and CmL2).

Gudrun Melzer: a doctrinal text on meditation (BL 26+29, in collaboration with the Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project); Gāndhārī manuscript fragments (BL 8, BL 11, BL 19, BL 21.1, BL 22, BL 24 and BL 27); Gāndhārī documents from Niya; and Sanskrit manuscripts from Gandhāra.

Andrea Schlosser: a Pure Land Mahāyāna sūtra (MSūB, in collaboration with Ingo Strauch); a Buddhist abecedary (BC 5); a treatise on statecraft (Rn, in collaboration with Ingo Strauch); a business document (BC 15); and fragments of Mahāyāna texts (BC 4, BC 6, BC 11 and BC 19).

The Dictionary of Gāndhārī is jointly edited by Stefan Baums (Munich) and Andrew Glass (Seattle). In its first phase, the Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra project contributes to the completion of the Dictionary of Gāndhārī database, and in its second phase to the final redaction of the Dictionary. In the first phase of the project, Stefan Baums and the Digital Humanist prepare a concise Working Grammar of Gāndhārī on the basis of the Dictionary database; in the second phase, this Working Grammar is completed and elaborated into a Historical Grammar of Gāndhārī. Also in the second phase of the project, Gudrun Melzer, Andrea Schlosser and the Digital Humanist prepare a complete Paleography of Kharoṣṭhī in collaboration with Andrew Glass. All members of the project contribute to a comprehensive History of Gandhāran Literature and of Buddhism in Gandhāra. The Digital Humanist builds a TEI‐based database system for the project in phase one, carries out the technical maintenance of the database throughout the duration of the project, and develops new analytical and presentational tools (including a digital and print publication workflow).