Fragments of Old Uyghur Saddharmapudarika-Sutra

Abstract

The Sanskrit Saddharmapundarika-sutra or Lotus Sutra is among the most important literary sources of Mahayana Buddhism. Old Uyghur version of this text in Sanskrit, which is unknown when, where and by whom it was compiled, is called Vaphuaki atl(i)g nom cacaki sudur. Old Uyghur version dates to a Chinese translation of the text by Kumarajiva in 406. In later studies, it is mentioned that a Sogdian version was also used among the sources of the Old Uyghur version. Fragments of Old Uyghur Saddharmapu..arika-sutra were found because of research in Dunhuang, Turfan and Yarkhoto. The fragments that have survived to date belong to various parts of the text in question. Between the years 1911 and 2020, various studies were completed on the fragments of this text. In this paper, the unpublished fragments of the Avalokitesvara, which constitutes the XXVth chapter of the Old Uyghur Saddharmapu..arika-sutra, and more specifically Kuansi-im Bodis(a)t(a)v, preserved in the Berlin Turfan Collection, will be published. In the introduction of this paper, more than a century of work on Saddharmapu..arika-sutra will be mentioned, and then the transcriptions and transliterations of the fragments in question will be included. This will be followed by explanations of the text and glossary.