[Buddha-l] Sanskrit speaking Buddha

[James Ward]

Hi Lance and Stephen,

I haven't been able to see the published Schøyen Bamiyan texts yet, but 
I did note the following from Matsuda Kazunobu:

"Next, Dr. Sander and Professor Braarvig found some 40 folio fragments 
of the A.s.tasaahasrikaapraj~naapaaramitaa among palm-leaf manuscripts 
in Ku.saa.na script. Dr. Sander infers that these fragments date back 
to the second century. The language in the text is a kind of Buddhist 
Sanskrit, a dialect similar to that of the Mahaavastu. For example, 
"eva.m vutte" represents "evam ukte." The second century is not far 
from the date when the text of Praj~naapaaramitaa suutras has been 
established, and now actual evidence has appeared. It proves the fact 
that the earliest Praj~naapaaramitaa was not completed as a genuine 
Sanskrit text from the beginning, but that fairly vulgar Prakrit 
versions of the suutra existed in India preceding the Sanscritized 
texts. To say the least, these are the earliest Mahaayaana texts which 
are extant today and written in the beautiful Ku.saa.na script."

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JOS/jos94088.htm

Best wishes,

James Ward


On Nov 19, 2005, at 12:04 AM, L.S. Cousins wrote:

[snip]

>> Are you then assuming that very early Mahayana texts (or 
>> proto-Mahayana) such as the Lotus Sutra or the earliest PP sutras 
>> (generally believed for a number of reasons to have pre-dated c2nd 
>> CE)  were written / compiled in some form of MIA prior to their 
>> Sanskrit, albeit a hybrid form, versions ?
>
> Either that or they might originally have been spoken/chanted works, 
> later written down in Sanskrit or some kind of Sanskritized Prakrit. 
> This seems quite possible in the case of the PP works, perhaps less so 
> in the case of the Lotus.

[snip]