Vajra-prajnä-päramitä
by H. W. Bailey, Cambridge
In the ZDMG 91 (1937) Iff., Professor F.W.Thomas
published under the title A Buddhist Chinese Text in Brähmi
Script, a study of a roll (Ch. 00120) of the Stein Collection
in the India Office Library, important alike for Chinese and
for Khotanese studies. An excellent facsimile accompanied
the paper. The text contains a Chinese version of the Vaj-
racchedikä, to which is prefixed an Introduction. On pp. 13ff.
Professor Thomas, while disclaiming completeness (p. 2),
touched upon three points of interest to Khotanese studies:
(1) final i, (2) h :, and (3) the subscript curve. The orthography
and the ductus of the script, which are peculiar to Khotanese
texts, are, for one somewhat unfamiliar with Khotanese MSS.,
not at once easy to understand and the following corrected
readings in the transcription of lines 24—93 must be admitted
before the full value of the document can be appreciated.
The abbreviation K which will occur frequently refers
to Professor Karlgben's invaluable dictionary : B. Karlgrbn,
Analytic Dictionary of Chinese and Sino-Japanese.
II. Corrected Readings
Line and number of aksara
25'* tsimni =f- as in 74, but a tsimni, occurs in 22.
27' ksl ^ top blundered, but the s (not v) is cer¬
tain, and cvi is excluded also by the Chi¬
nese, K 811 tft <d"i, with no trace of
V. ksi also 1, 70.
27'^ tümni «f .^«> quite distinct from khü 6, 57, 59.
30* tüm id. id.
30" damni ^Sl ä, cf. dim 71, da 75, de 47, dä does not
occur in this text, but is well attested in
Zi-itxclirift d. DHG. Bd. 92 (.Neue Folge Bd. 17) :t7
:j 8 •
580 H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä
other texts. Cf. dämmt 38. am and äm are
used differently.
3014,18 yauti ^ cf. yau, yauti, yauvi . The sign for t
is quite distinct from v.
33" si IH: but si 26, 58, se 32.
383 ttyai |§ ty has one curve less.
38" dammi H cf. damni 30.
39" tmni but Imni 34.
411 ha -.hhui ISI with the rare use of hh for h. Here for
*ha -.hi, K 568 üe < ngdk.
47" dt distinct from dvi 44. Cf . the da of dä 48.
484.» ttü ^ the difference between tu and ttu can be
seen clearly in M. Leumann's Sakische
Handschriftjrroben.
491 ttü id.
52" tsi ^
521« süti m
53« süti id.
56" ttihi : ^
628 kati Ü:
651» kauti ^
661 yauti ^ but yaw 44, yauvi 32, y« 93.
681« kvt -fe] kv also in 11, and kvimni 17 (if
kimmi käm kvimni phüsari = Vaj ra¬
sena bodhisattva, then kvimni = 5p! K 508
kiln < kiuBn).
^ K 484 kü < assures the read¬
ing, kv and jv are distinct, but jv does
not occur in this text, kvi also 71, 75,
km 19.
701» «w ]^ svj also 13, quite distinct from gvi 38, 53.
K 831 suei < «/"äi. Cf. also sva 5.
70" yauti ^
71« fcrf see 68, 75.
72« n ^ a, quite distinct from khi 19, 23, 25.
73* *tamni M blurred ak§ara, cf. 74.
749,10 tütümni id. dittography of tü.
H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-paramitä 581
752 kvi ^ see 68, 71.
76* ß ^ see 72, 84.
78« gati ^ also ga 81.
84» süti
in sü 24, s^ti 91
84" ti see 72, "76.
88* yauti m
89" yauti id
91« süti ia see 76, 84.
The problem of i=B 50 sya, 50 syam, 66 syau, K 786
siang< sjang, must be given special treatment, syau occurs nine
times 66, 78, 79, 80. The -au is identical with the sign for -au
in 4 khauti, 5 syauvi (ter), 6 yauvi, 8 Muvi, 10 kyauvi, 19 sauvi,
30 «/OM<| (bis), 32 yauvi, 65 Aawi«, ya%i|, 67 yauvi, 70 yatt<?,
81, 82/a«t;2, 88, 89 yauti, where is confirmed by the follow¬
ing f or t. It is equally so in 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 90 yau and
50 sau.
It has long been noted that in later Khotanese ä, äm and
au, as also u, dm and au, alternate freely. In the one text
P 3513 occur 19 v 2 skväme, 22 r 1 skvämma and 21 r 3 skvauma,
and the Skt. loanword 29r2 samähänvä (loc. plur.), 30v
4 samähämnvä, and 29 v 2 samähauna 'samädkäruC . It is clear
that äm and aw had come to have an identical value, which was
probably (open) 0 with or without following nasal, cf. for
the present BSOS viii 935, where, however, the name 'or-non
in Tibetan script is not to be compared with Khotanese
uryäna-, but is the name attested by sakhärmu ärnäna 'the
sanghäräma Ärnana', which has recently been noted in
P 2787.94, and by äranäm sagai in Ch. 00272.59.
It seems therefore hardly justifiable to introduce om
into the transcription here: syä, syäm and syau can all be
interpreted as Chinese ■syang or *syong or without the nasal.
The Tibetan system of transcription is here distinct with
both syan and syon. As is clear from BSOS viii 935, Tibetan
on transcribes Khotanese äm.
In addition to syau in the present text is to be noted
1 kimmi kau in the phrase kimmi kau pa(a palabi<ri>
37*
582 H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä
'Vajra-prajfiä-päramita' corresponding to 23 kimmi käm pasa
palahiri .kau and käm are interchangeable. In line 6 in the
phrase hyü : khümni tsau phüsari = ^ ^ M M 'Äkäsa-
garbha bodhisattva', tsau = K 1034 ts'äng < dz'äng(— garbha)i).
Conversely Skt. om appears as 6 ämmi).
The inconsistency between ttü ^ in the transcribed text,
tü in the index, and ttümni ^ in the text and tümni in the
index should be removed in favour of ttü and ttümni. The
misprints 26 tcümni for tcümni, 29 tcva. for the first tcva
(without following dot), 38 simni for simni, 83 tysü for tsyü,
and p. 40 tsyümni for tsyümni, should be noted as liable to
cause difficulty.
III. Transcription of lines 1—24
These lines, omitted by Professor Thomas as unsuited
to his purpose, are necessary to the following notes.
Lines 1—5 have lost about 8 syllables at the beginning.
1 yau simni yüm ksi - kimni kau pasa palabi
2 dyemmi tsyai ~ khatP) gye hvi : cimni gyemni
3 mi käm siysi phüsari - mye hau sü 7>a (?)
4 -i hau : ~ tsyai khauti gye hvi : cimni gyamni
5 syauvi di - syauvi syauvi di svavi hara (?)
6. hyü : khümni tsau phüsari - phü kümni yauvi cimni gyamni
~ ämmi
7. gaganasambhava - vajrra hüm ~ yvimni ha : hvam : mi -
yvimni ha: tti
8. hi : cä Sauvi - kimmi käm pi hva : yi simni ~ hvü : hi yi
ha: im
9. ni yvimni ~ ttihi: thayi kyemni ~ küm diki ~ yvimni ha:
uvü tsi
10. ysi kye - kyauvi kye ttauvi pi gamni - gvimni hvi : ri khiyi
yvi: biri
1) ^ is represented by taw in the different Turliisli system of
transcription (Bang and von Gabain, Analytischer Index der Tür¬
kischen Turjan-Texte 29, and von Gabain, Die uigurisclie Übersetzung
der Biographie Hüen-Tsanga p. .">). Similarly qw represents kang.
2) khdtt with d struck out.
H. W. Bailky, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä 583
11. kväm yvi cümni se sveri - hvüm : ni tsye pari kimmi käm -
hvüm:ni tsye tsye
12. chvü^) ksvü tseyi kimmi kau - hvüm-.üi tsye pihi: thü:
hi kimmi käm - hvüm : ni
^ . - • . -
13. tsye hvä: svi khyüvi kimmi käm - hvüm:ni tsye phehi:
tsyai svi kimmi käm ~
14. hvüm:ni tsye chihi: sai hva: kimmi käm ~ hvümni tsye
thyai ksvyü tsyeyi kim
15. mi käm - hvüm : ni tsye tciysi hyem : ni kimmi käm - hvüm :
ni tsye ttayi
16. Simni kimmi käm - hvüm : ni tsye siysi phUsari ~ hvüm :
ni tsye kimmi
17. käm kvimni phüsari ~ hvüm:ni tsye kimmi käm saht:
phüsari ~ hvüm :
18. ni tsye kimmi käm ayi phüsari - hvümni tsye kimmi käm
gü phüsa
19. ri ~ hva:ri gvimni vimni khi Sauvi sammi keyi tcümni -
lern 't
20. Si hvi : hväm: hvi:ri ~ Aa: kimmi hva:ri hvüm : gvimni ~
kfi tciysi kim
21. mi käm kye - Sä pü si ksüm hem :niha: tci sammi thü khü
~ ighi yü
22. vi kyemni vimni - ca siri hva : ri phü tti simmi ~ tsimni si
23. ysi yeri pau Simni - thümni Se khihi : Iaht : kau - kimmi käm
24. paJa palabiri kye 43 ha^) vimni r Si hvi:ri tceyi - Sa
yvi kü
IV. Khotanese sounds
Here only seven points will be considered, it not being
intended to exhaust the study of this text.
I./.
The present text offers the following evidence: —
27 tümni \ + K 1269 tsung < Mid. Chin. I' jung. Tib. cun,
30 tüm j chun.
1) Struck out.
2) Subscript below a cancelled akfara.
584 H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä
73 tümni 1 «5. , „„^
l^\tu\tümni\'^^^^'''f''''^<''^'''^-
72, 76, 84 ti K 1218 tsi < t'i^. Tib. ci.
Hence / = Chin, t'i-, isi-, t'i-.
Professor Konow, NTS ix 74 s. v. rrautä-, had no explan¬
ation of intervocalic This word and three others can
now be quoted from unpublished Khotanese texts.
1. rrauta P 2781. 16—17.
gaiji muri hamthrri ksuna ~ The vulture was distressed
with hunger,
sai vaska hamphve mt^nda " festers were on him,
*^_^ • • *
ttrralinä hüna jsa rausta ~ vermin (?) grew from the
blood,
muri raupe jsa ttrramaste the bird devoured them
eagerly (?).
2. vatäkye, vetäkye, vaiakya, vitakyi
P 2025.68 khanai bi{sa vitakyi = P 2956.46 khinai hüH
vetäkye 'laughter, joking, *jesting'.
3. bekhaute
Ch 00274.35 v 3
päyve jsai gvastai ttäre bekhaute avtpa
säthike güve jiye byaudämdq bese
' you separated you delivered the mer¬
chants, they all gained life'.
4. gihauta
Ch ii 002, llr 2 gihauta rendering Skt. ghonthä, ghonthä
(PW ghontä), Tib. ston-ta, probably adapted from the
Skt. word.
In the loanword from Skt. särtha, särthaväha, t and th alter¬
nate :—
N 169 verse 4 sätä, E 1.53 sätäväya,
Ch 00274.35 v 1 säthe, 30 v 2, 35 v 4 säthike, P 2782.15
säthikä7n,
Ch 00274. 7 r 1, 21 r 4, 25 r 2 sätika, 21 v 1 sätikäzn.
H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä 585
Professor Konow has already shown (Saka Studies p. 8f.)
on phonematic grounds that th represented a palatalized
fricative, comparing Khotan. haththa, hatha 'truth' with Av.
haidya-, OPers. hasiya- = Olran. *hadya-, and has pointed
to the same fact in NTS vii 29 and NTS ix 50 in explaining
pafhuta patithuta) and gguvathuta^), with th to indicate
a palatalized th. This is evidently confirmed by the present
use of the unaspirated / in transcribing Chinese palatals.
Conversely we find that the Mid. Chinese used palatals*)
to render Skt. cerebrals. Examples are common and can be
seen, for example, in Julien, Methode, 1741 (cf. K1159
:£ tsai < t'vk) = ta, 1760 ^ (= K 1322 ts'a < d"a) = da,
1852 (= K 1218 tsi < t'i^) = ti, 1887 (= K 1146 ts'm
< d"ien) = din, and in the Gandlstotra (Bibliotheca Buddhica
xv): (cf. K 1322 ^ tf'a <d"a) = dhä; (K 1214 tsi <
t'i) = tt, te.
2. d.
In the present text occur: —
48 </ä ä K 544 liang < Ijang. Tib. lyan, lyon.
4:1 di ^ 1^ 558 ling < lidng.
44 dvi M K 227 lei < Ifi (Jap. rui).
and in addition 5 di (bis), 9 diki.
Hence d = Chin. Ii-, Ii-, Ij- and, like /, represents a pala¬
talized sound.
Elsewhere Khotanese d renders foreign I. So in the Stael-
Holstein roll 9 and 34 rrgyadisümmi = Tib. rgyal-sum. In
Turkish words in Khotanese orthography (unpublished) both
d and I occur: P 2741.102 hidigä = bilgä, ibid. 81 adpi = alp,
P 2892.173 üliini = ulun.
1) With the ggu- oi gguvathuta and gguhamamggattätä it is now
possible to compare P 3513.55 v 3—4 güjsabaji and 37 v 3 güjaa-
hrriitq, Ch. 1.0021b, B 27 gujaabrriya- = ggu -\- tcabalj-.
2) See Kaklgren's description, Introduction p. 6. Middle Chi¬
nese had cerebral ff, (iz, but used the palatals as the nearest to the
simple Skt. cerebrals. For Chinese transcription of Tibetan cere¬
brals, cf. Laufer, Toung Pao 1916, 437.
586 H. W. Baiucy, Vajra-prajnä-päraniitä
For Khotanese the same value of d is indicated in loan¬
words by P 2956.56 kidasmi jsa = P 2025.76 (a copy of the
same text) kleimi jsa. P 3501.9 v 1 kidesa also occurs. Skt.
kalyäna is rendered by P 5538 v 7 (BSOS ix 522) kadqna,
P 2896.11 kadäna.
In a word of unknown origin the alternation of ly and
d is attested :—
hüdaiga. Ch cvi. 001 (facsimile, Stein, Serindia, plate
cxlviii) 3, 4 M hüdaigi ystdai 'and a yellow hüdaiga'.
ibid, 30 u hüdaiga yämmabakt Sau 'and one
hüdaiga'.
P 2925.48 äfkyau jsa habadai hudaiga 'kerchief filled with
tears'.
hülyega. Stael-Holstein roll 4:—
u rijtjüm hülyega 30 chä^) pam jsa tsüna u hvähi -.tte 17
tsüvAi (so to read) 'and a hülyega 30 chä 5 tsüna (= Chi¬
nese "+ K 1113 ts'un < ts'wn) and in width 17 tsüna'.
A word is found with the alternation d — I:
P 2956.15 hülüka 'instrument of percussion' = P 2025.54 hü-
düka, a copy of the same text.
In Khotanese words d <rt will then not be, as Professor
Konow suggested (Saka Studies p. 26), a cerebral r, but an I,
and will then be comparable with Ormun rt > I, mulluk
'died', zal 'old', and Sangleci-Iskäsml rt>f, I, Sangl. kuf, Isk.
kul 'did' (Morgenstierne, Indo-Iranian Frontier Languages
1331, 11318).
Conversely intervocalic Prakrit -d- (= Skt. -/-) appears
as in Khotanese : nälai E 5.98, Skt. nätaka, küla, Skt. koti,
cf. also BSOS viii 914 note 1.
3. ks, ch.
The following alternations have been noted in Khotanese
texts :—
1) chd now (contra ZDMG 90. 576) seems to render Chinese 3t;
K 1171 ffang < d"iang, which equals 10 ta'l and 100 ta'un.
H. W. Bailky, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä 587
(a) ks — th
(b) kf—ft-
(c) st — th — sf — rst — rsth — ks — sks
(d) kf—kfy—st—
?ty—?<^~fy—
ffh—th
^" To this is to be added the Chinese evidence:
kf :—
gakfai = gäthai 'householder', vak-
fäyai = vathäyai (BSOS ix 542).
haftüSvä = Im-.kfüsvä 'eighteen', loc.
plur.
ttaiftide (translating Skt. tifthantu),
ttaithadau pres. ptc, ttiffimi (translat¬
ing Skt. tiftheya), ttirstamda, trfthandi, ttaikfadi, ttaifkfädq.
ayikfe, ayeksäiiä, qyikfye, ayeftye,
ayifcye, ayefcänä, ayifye, iyaifthäm,
ayaitha (Skt. adhisthita-).
82 ksahi:
w 31,81 kfahi:
26 cahi :
70 kfi
27 *^
62,53 kfü
55,56 kfu
35 CM
39 cchü
60,62 chü
^ K 1187 tfo < d"jak. Tib. jag.
# K811 tf'i <d"i.
K 1245 tfu < d"iu. Tib. ju, Hju-
To which add 1 kfi, 12 chvü'^) kfvü, 14 kfvyü, 20 ij:, 21 kfüm.
ch :—
93 cAa UK 1157 tsa.
28 chi jK K 1256 tf'u < t'Sfo. Tib. chi.
54 chühi: Ü K 916 Kt'sTok. Tib. cAo^, cAow.
Also 12 chvü^) ksvü, 14 chihi:
Hence kf = Chin. d"/- and cA = Chin. ts-,
<'i|-. It is therefore comprehensible that kf and/A can alternate
in Khotanese, when / = Chin, t'j-, t'sj- and kf = Chin.
d"i-. To be noted is also Khotan. kfattra- 'umbrella', Skt.
1) Struck out.
588 H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-pärtunitä
chattra-, (cf. Professor Konow, NTS vii 22f., wfiere, however,
chadä should probably be compared with P 2781.90 makaläni
hivi chadi ' chattering of monkeys'). This value of ks may
be considered to represent the Prakrit of Khotan, as presented
in the Kharosthi Dharmapada, where Skt. kf is replaced by
a sound noted by a particular sign V cA distinct from the sign
J ch which represents Skt. ch.
For the pronunciation of ch in Skt. words in Khotan
we have the use oi ts {= tsy) in the Sanskrit-Khotanese
bilingual (ed. BSOS ix 521ff., see p. 540), where gatsa = Skt.
gaccha.
But a different pronunciation of kf is also attested
which was evidently used for the Sanskrit, as distinct from
the Prakrit, of Khotan. This is attested for Skt. words
by ttisirahi.kfya P 2958.102 = Tisya-raksitä, ttahikfaStlai
P 2958.59 = Taksasilä, ärahi:kfq. P 2958.147 = äraksa^ and
cahä-.fa Ch ii 002, 147 v 4 (see BSOS ix 543) = cakfufi. This
is clearly also the value of Khotan. kf (= Olran. s, and //),
beside ff, f.
Conversely the Chinese used tf for Skt. kf. — ^ X K 224
ie < ia and 1153 //a = Skt. yaksa; Gandlstotra verse 4 ^ tS^
K 1257 ßf u < tf'iu and 689 pan < h'vMn = Skt. ksubharn,
intending kf (or perhaps x^)-
4. tc, ts.
The conclusions of Professor Konow (Saka Studies p. 25
and NTS ix 8, 78) that tc = ts and ts = tsy are confirmed
by the present text. The evidence is as follows :—
tc.
K 1151 tso < tsak. Tib. tsag.
K 1021 tsai < tsai.
K 1024 tsai < dz'ai. Tib. }e, She.
K 1089 tsi < tsi. Tib. ie.
K 1048 tsi < tsiak. Tib. iig, iin.
K 1044 tsd < tS0k. Tib. iig.
69 tcahi:
33 tcayi
^
36 tciyi
24 tceyi ^
33, 38 tci ^
51 tci
gp 30, 65, 82 tciki
80 tcihi: m
H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä 589
# K 1112 tsun < tsum. Tib. iin, ion.
29, 30 tcva M K 1100 tso < dz'ua.
29 tcva ^ K noo tso < dz'ua.
29 tcyüki & k 1104 tew < tsi'"ok.
In 29 tciseyi occurs witb s written over c. tseyi is excep¬
tional, K 1024 tsai < dz'äi, ci. 12 tseyi. In lines 1—24 occur
15 tciysi, 19 tcümni, 20 tciysi, 21 icz.
ts.
52 tsi
^ K 1095 ts'i < ts'i. Tib. ihi.
27 tsiysi
93 tsi ^ K 1069 ts'ie < ts'iet. Tib. ihe/ii, ihe
44 tsyai ieH-i.
25, 74 tsimni K 1076 ts'ien. Tib. ^^Aen.
71 tsiysi at K 1096 ts'i < fo'ie. Tib. ihi.
80 tsviyi
81,83,92 tsyü
M. K 1123 te'« < te'iEM.
75 tsyai m K 1199 tsing < dz'ßng. Tib. «fAe«.
11 + tsye pRä# K 1085 ts'ing < ts'iäng. Tib. hihe.
30 tsyümni ^ K 1117 ts'ung < dz'fong.
In lines 1—24 note also 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, ISUye, 4 tsyai,
6 tsau, 9 tsiysi, 12 fee?/«, 2, 13 teyai, 14 tsyeyi, 22 tsimni.
Hence te = Chin, ts-, dz'-; tcy- = Chin. ts^-. In tez,
icfH = Chin, tspk, -id- is rendered by i, so that here too
tc = ts. But te, tsy = Chin, te'i-, te'jj-, dz'i-.
This evidence is useful also for the value of js as the
voiced equivalent of tc in compounds :—
pajsama-jsera- 'reverend (= -tcera-), P 3513.68 v 2 virü-
lya-jsima (rendering Skt. Suvarnabhäsa 3.61 vaidürya-
nirmala-visuddha-sulocanängam) 'beryl-eyed' (= tceiman-),
güjsabaji (= ggu-\-tcahalj-).
5. -ti, -vi and zero.
Alternation of -<-, -v-, and zero was from the first observ¬
ed in Khotanese, as in däta-, dä, dätinai, dävinai. The altern¬
ation may occur in a single text: P 2893.213 bäti, 213 bäta,
26 + tcümni]
58 tcvini
590 H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä
209 bavi, 213 bava, 79 ba 'root'. This -t- may replace older
-V-, so in P 2781. 69 sarautäm, gen. plur. 'lions', beside
P 3513.44 r 2, 51 r 4 sarauva 'lions', cf. also P 3513.4 r 2 ca-
rauva 'lamps'. In the present text the same alternation is
found :— 4] K 251 m < jyu is rendered by 44 yau, 65 yauit,
32 yauvi (also by 93 yü and probably 21 yüvi). It is clear
therefore that this Khotanese -<- did not represent a dental
.stop. It may, however, have indicated a glottal stop, as remnant
of an older t.
Outside this text we find the same, as in P 2790.2, 16
the name sahi : kauvi dimni beside sahi : kauii dimni.
6. A:, of which the double dot may be absent.
It was indicated in a footnote BSOS ix 300 that ha:
in Turkish words written in Khotanese orthography re¬
presented initial x and medial or final y. In these texts the
Turkish gutturals are rendered as follows. A fuller study
must be deferred.
Khotanese aksara Turkish
k k yüraki = yüräk 'heart', kiripiki = kirpik
'eyelash'
q kasi = qaS 'eyebrow', bakanäki = baqanuq
'flesh in hoof, baikimni = biqin 'flank'.
h k kyesi = kis 'quiver'.
9 g yügumna = yügün 'bridle', bidigä = bilgä
'wise'.
9y g digyimna = tigin 'prince'.
h:. A:, A X ham:ni = xan 'king'.
r hvaihu:ra = uiyur 'Uighur', kapiha:ki =
qapyak 'cover', aysaihi: = aziy 'tusk', ahi.ysi
= ayiz 'mouth'.
In the present text initial A:, h, A: occur as follows to
render gutturals: —
59 ha: T K 134 A/a < ya.
34 + Aa: W K 72 xo < -fä. Tib. haA.
H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä 591
35, 40 harn : m
K 351 hiang < ydng. Tib. hhen.
43 harn : ni i ^
31 hg, : pi ^ K 71 xo < yäp.
70 hmi:
K 81 xou < Y?tt. Tib. hifiu.
53 he: ff K 156 hing < yvng.
88 heyi m K 366 hie < yäi. Tib. hehi.
32, 37 hü: m K 120 xu < yuo. Tib. ho.
28 hvam : ni m K 102 xuan < y"'an.
43 hä m K 414 xo < xä-
32 hi: # K 127 hi < xjei. Tib. hi.
45 hva: it K 93 xua < fa.
86 hvyüäm ift K 163 xuang < xi"'ang.
53 hyü: m K 142 hiang < xi^^g. Tib. han, ho,
hhyo.
59, 66 57
hyü:
hyü Aj:
Ml K 168 hü < xi'o. Tib. Äe/4i.
57 n K 203 i < i Tib. 'il).
24 + ha
81 + ga ffe K 679 0 < n^a.
78 gati
40 ha : bhui m K 568 %e < wgr^ijfc.
83, 89 hi: m K 204 i < w^'/i^.
The A" which alternates with pAw in the labial series is not
considered here.
Hence A: renders Chin, y-, x- and, beside g-, stands also
for Chin. n^-. Once, in Af:, A; renders the glottal stop, the
Chinese jing, see Karlqren, Introduction p. 20. There is evi¬
dent agreement with the use of A: in transcribing Turkish.
In final position -hi:, -hi, beside -kf and zero, renders a
final guttural, in Chinese expressed as -k by Kablgben, and
by -g (and -n) in Tibetan. In Turkish transcriptions of Chin¬
ese occur -q: iiq = K K. 1230 ts'i < t'siäk (Analytischer In-
- dex p. 19) and -k : Hk ü K 1223 si < sf^k (ibid. p. 53 in
wiHkluan).
I) On Tibetan 'a and fia, see also Clauson and Yosliitake, JRAS
1929. 844 ff.
3 9
592 H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päramitä
In Khotanese words h: is frequent in the later texts,
but it has still to be investigated. For h:, h, before ks, s in
Skt. words see above p. 10.
7. -i.
The symbol i has been introduced, as explained in
BSOS ix 521, to indicate the vowel mark written, detached,
to the right of the aksara, which has hitherto been confused
with i. Professor Thomas had observed the difference in the
forms of i and t in the present text (p. 3), but did not further
distinguish them in his transcription. The sign iis the older d.
The palaeographical development from ä to / can easily be
traced by comparing the ä of E in M. Leumann's Sakische
Handschriftproben, with the fused dots in the ä of the Vaj-
racchedikä MS (ed. by Professor Konow in Hoernle, Manu¬
script Remains of Buddhist Literature found in Chinese Turk¬
estan), then with the sign for ä over the ka in line 1 and the
da in line 3 of the document edited by Hoernle, JASoc.Bengal
1901, plate vii, or over the ra line 4 and da line 4 of the
document edited by Hoernle in Manuscript Remains, plate
xvii, and then with the latest form in the Stael-Holstein
roll over da, na, ga in line 7. With one aksara, la, the two
dots, being superimposed one over the other, remained un¬
changed, so that in texts using the latest form of i, lä is
still used.
In the present text clear examples of i and i can be seen
in yi 29", 31«, 40i2, 45", 47", 54i, 66* beside yi 29", 35",
36*, 63*, and in pi 82" beside pi 81". It will be seen that
the i and i of these two pi and pi are distinguished in function :
i occurs in the radical syllable, while i in the pi of hva: pi
Tt^ K 491 /a < pi^'op indicates a Chinese final consonant. This
distinction is regularly maintained, but yi and yi, ysi and ysi
(so leyi 32, 67 beside leyi 36, 63, 64, 70, 76, 84, 87, 91, and
siysi 2, 73 beside siysi 16, 22) interchange, which may be
phonetic, or graphic. In Khotanese itself i will need further
investigation. In transcription of foreign words it is used
where no final vowel existed. So Chinese i^i K 41 fo < h'iugt.
H. W. Bailey, Vajra-prajnä-päratnilä 593
Tib. Hbur, in the present text hvi:ri; Tibetan näki, nähi 'Nob'
in the Stael-Holstein roll 11; Turkish kyesi = kis; Skt. ämmi
— om in the present text 6.
It should be added that the viräma is quite distinct from
this /, and the doubt expressed BSOS viii 77 footnote, should
be cancelled. A good example of viräma can be seen in plate I
JRAS 1911, facing p. 452 sidham in lines 1, 8, 9. Similarly
in phat in the unpublished Ch. 1. 0021b, A 13.
Notes in consideration of Professor Bailey's critical observations
by F. W. Thomas, Oxford
I am pleased that Professor Bailey should have given
attention to my article. Since a friend whom about eight
years ago I pressed to take up the investigation of the India
Office collection of Saka-Khotani 'documents' found him¬
self too much hampered by other researches and ultimately
decided to give up the task, it is satisfactory that in 1934
he was able to hand it on with my concurrence to so compe¬
tent a successor.
A good part of Professor Bailey's paper is addendum,
partly adding new precisions and information relating to old
matters, such as Saka-Khotani I <d, the Chinese represen¬
tation of Indian cerebrals by palatals, or to matters, such
as Chinese ts represented by tc and y represented by hi {hi:),
brought to light in my article. So far as this particularly
concerns the specialists in Saka-Khotani or Chinese, I need
not enter into it. But in regard to the transliteration of the
initial 24 lines of the MS. what I wrote (p. 17) was —
'For the greater part of this introduction, which has not
been found elsewhere, it would not be difficult, with the
aid of the index given below, to supply the Chinese char¬
acters corresponding to the Brähmi aksaras, since the
sense, consisting largely of invocations of Buddhas and
Bodhi-sattvas, is rather apparent. But the procedure
would be partly conjectural, and this, in the case of Chinese
homophones, could not be entirely free from risk; . . .'
The 24 lines do not belong to the Vajra-cchedikä. If
their text should ultimately be identified in some other MS.
from Central Asia — ^and certainly there are in such MSS.
many passages containing similar matter — it would for some
purposes be welcome.
We should, however, be grateful to Professor Bailey
for furnishing a transcription and for turning it to account
