The Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita (An Old and Rare Book)

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The Present Edition of the Pancavims at is ahasrika Prajna paramita is based upon four Mss. two of which belongs to the Cambridge University Library, one to the bibliotheque Nationale de paris and one to the Asiatic society of Bengal. The Present Text is a rearranged version of the original. From the concluding line of every chapter. viz. Aryapancavims at is ahasrikayam Bha gavatyam Prajnaparamitayam Abhisamayalanka ranusarena Samshidhitayam. It is evident that the present work has been remodelled to adapt. It to Maitreyanatha's Abhisamayalankarakarika a copy of which appears in four of the five Mss of the present work. Buddhist Sanskrit collections of various places. The Karika is as cribed in all the Mss to maitreyanatha BU-Ston tells us that one of the five works of Maitreya is the Abhisamay alankara. Taranatha furnishes us with the tra dition that Asanga studied the Prajnaparamita sutras in his early days and that in the Tusita heaven he heard the whole of Mahayana. Chinese and tibetan translations. The rearranged version of the pancavimsati along with the Karika was not known to the chinese at all. Simhabhadra accord ing to Taranatha was a contemporary of dharmapala, circa 783-815. The Idea of utilising the Pancavimsati as a commentary of the karika was a novel one. A comparison of the published portion of the Sata. With the present recast version of the pancavimsati. These are called Bodhis attvadharmanusari. There are Bodhisattvas who after developing the dhyanas. Complete the Aparamanas arupya-samapattis smrtiupasthanas. Samyakprahanas. Rddhipadas indriyas belas bodhyangas and margas. They never separate themselves from the Pranjaparamita vihara and in this cycle they attain the highest Bodhi. These are called Dvitiyatrtiyaphalapratipannaka. Drstiprapta. etc. etc. & C.

Nalinaksha Dutt, M.A.B.L.Ph. D. (Cal) D. Litt (Lond.) Premchand Roychand Scholar. Formerly Professor of Pall. Judson College, Rangoon, Lecturer Post Graduate Department (Pali) and Ancient Indian History and culture Calcutta University.

The present edition of the Pañcavimsatisähasrika Prajñā pāramitā is based upon four mss. two of which belong to the Cambridge University Library, one to the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris and one to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. While proceeding to Europe in 1926, I took a copy of the last mentioned ms. and during my stay there I collated the same with the mss. in Cambridge and Paris. Of the four mss., the ms. Add. 1628 of the Cambridge University Library (referred to in the present edition as C₁) is more accurate than the other three and also appears to be a little older than the other mss. It is complete in 594 leaves, of which 412 to 559 are written in a different hand and are older than the other portions i. e. leaves 1-411 and 560-594.

The second Cambridge ms. (referred to as C,) follows the ms. of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (referred to as A) more closely, repeating its mistakes, and in some places committing fresh mistakes. The ms. of the Bibliotheque National fares no better. It is a modern copy made at the instance of Hodgson.

All the mss. have the same defects, such as the indiscriminate use of visarga (:), omission of anusvara (), the use of singular verbs in the place of plural, the use of both anusvära and na when one is redundant as in fegg fea and interchange of and, and, and A, and I In many places confusion has been made in copying the repetitions. In common with all the Buddhist Sanskrit mss. there are in these mss. many Prakrit words with Sanskrit inflexions.

In my Note on the Prajñapäramitä (vide Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism, p. 328). I have put together the available evidences throwing light on the probable time of appearance of the Prajñäpäramitä literature, and tentatively concluded that it began to come into existence from the first century B. C. As regards the date of composition of the present work, we have to rely on the data supplied by the Chinese translations. The earliest Chinese translation was made about 286 A. D. by Dharmaraksa, proving conclusively thereby that the present work had been in existence before that date. It should however be noted that the date is of the original of the Pañcavimsati of which our text is only a rearranged version, as will be shown presently.

The present text is a rearranged version of the original From the concluding line of every chapter. viz., Aruapansacimiatisahanriksum Bhagavatyam Prainping mitayam Abhisamayalankarānusärena samíodhitäyäm, it is evident that the present work has been remodelled to adapt it to Maitreyanätha's Abhisamayölankärakärika, a copy of which appears in four of the five Mss. of the present work. The concluding lines also raise the question whether there was an original Pañcavinsati from which the present one is rearranged. There is, however, no trace of any such Pañcacimsati in the Buddhist Sanskrit collections of various places.

**Contents and Sample Pages**