British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
A HUNDRED YEARS OF DUNHUANG, 1907-2007
Abstracts
A magic text from Dunhuang and recent studies in Kharosth? manuscripts
Ingo Strauch, Institute for South Asian Languages and Cultures, Freie Universität Berlin
The paper will demonstrate the importance of Stein’s discovery for recent studies in Kharosth? manuscripts. Special weight will be given to the genre of dh?ran?/raks? literature which is predominantly represented among the Sanskrit manuscripts. Although it is generally thought that this class of texts belongs to a quite late period of Buddhist literature and is closely connected to Mah?y?na Buddhism there is sufficient evidence to show that its genesis started already in ?r?vakay?na circles. As well the Dunhuang manuscripts as a new collection of Kharosth? manuscripts contain specimens of early magic texts. Although the Kharosth? text is more than 500 years older than the Dunhuang manuscript, both share a common structure and terminology. In the paper we will try to compare them and to define their place in the development of this Buddhist literary genre.