Title: Revisiting a Sanskrit Translation of One Tibetan Text
Abstract:Introduction. Sanskrit was always perceived by followers of Tibetan Buddhism as the language of sutras and shastras, language of knowledge and culture. This resulted in that Sanskrit used to be extens...Introduction. Sanskrit was always perceived by followers of Tibetan Buddhism as the language of sutras and shastras, language of knowledge and culture. This resulted in that Sanskrit used to be extensively studied and taught. Tibetan clerical scholars could not only read Sanskrit but would make repeated attempts of composing original texts in this language. The to be examined Hundred Deities of Tushita guru yoga, a liturgical address to Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), is a rare phenomenon in Tibetan Buddhist literature — Tibetan-to-Sanskrit translation. This anonymous text was created approximately in 18th–19th centuries to further be transmitted in a number of xylographic editions across Mongolia and Buryatia up to the early 20th century. Goals. The article seeks to show the Tibetan-to-Sanskrit translation pattern and introduce it into scientific discourse along with due analysis. Materials. The study explores one xylographic Tibetan-to-Sanskrit edition of Hundred Deities of Tushita from Buryatia submitted by A. Kocharov. Results. The work concludes the Tibetan-to-Sanskrit guru yoga text contains multiple grammatical mistakes and inaccuracies when viewed from the perspective of standard Sanskrit. In some sentences the anonymous author does follow rules of Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, while in others observes no established Sanskrit declension and conjugation norms.Read More