A Gandhari Version of the Rhinoceros Sutra: British Library Kharosthi Fragment 5B.

• Author: Von Hinuber, Oskar
• Position: Book Review

A Gandhari Version of the Rhinoceros Sutra: British Library Kharosthi Fragment 5B. By RICHARD SALOMON, with Andrew Glass. Gandharan Buddhist Texts, vol. 1. Seattle: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS, 2000. Pp. xvii + 234, plates, figs. 42.50 [pounds sterling].

Three Gandhari Ekottarikagama-Type Sutras: British Library Kharosthi Fragments 12 and 14. By MARK ALLON, with Andrew Glass. Gandharan Buddhist Texts, vol. 2. Seattle: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS, 2001. Pp. xxv + 336, plates, figs. $75.

A first comprehensive description of the spectacular new finds of birch bark manuscripts containing Buddhist texts in Gandhari written in Kharosthi script was given by Richard Salomon (R.S.) in his book Buddhist Scrolls (1999) (reviewed: J. C. Wright, BSOAS 62 [1999]: 556-58; D. Boucher, Sino-Platonic Papers 98 [2000]: 50-70; F. Enomoto, The Eastern Buddhist, NS 32 [2000]: 157-66; Ch. Lindtner, Buddhist Studies Review 17.1 [2000]: 111-13; O. v. Hinuber, JAOS 121 [2001]: 519-21). After having thus raised the curiosity and whetted the appetite of scholars, the first two volumes of the new series presenting the texts themselves are now laid before the public with commendable speed, allowing immediate access to this invaluable material.

Already a first glance at both books shows two points: the enormous increase in knowledge on both northwestern Buddhist literature and Gandhari linguistics and, perhaps equally if not more important, the continuing extremely good fortune enjoyed by these Kharosthi fragments and, it seems, Kharosthi fragments in general. For, after the exemplary edition of the Gandhari Dharmapada (1) by John Brough in 1962, the *Khargavisanasutra (Khvs) and the Ekottarikagama (EA-G), too, have found highly competent editors. Consequently, the standards of both books need not fear any comparison to their famous predecessor. The first volume of the new series begins with a clear description of the method to be followed by future editors (Khvs, p. xiii), which, however, is slightly modified in the second volume for practical reasons (EA-G, p. xviii). The introduction discusses the literary aspects of the texts. A very detailed description of the manuscript including its physical shape and its history, as far as this is known, is followed by a reconstruction of the scroll. Then, the uddanas (if preserved), parallel versions in Buddhist literature, and chapters on palaeography and on grammar, split up into phonology and morphology, finish the introductory part. The transcribed, reconstructed, and translated text is accompanied by an extensive and detailed commentary.

All fragments are shown in excellent color photographs, which would allow an immediate control of the suggested readings. However, both editors proceeded so carefully that these plates are almost reduced to mere aesthetic value. Exhaustive indices of the Gandhari words amply demonstrate the richness of the new...