Mss. of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra—their linguistic peculiarities
Summary
Examining a range of manuscripts of the Saddharmapundarika-sutra, this article uncovers dialectal variations and scribal peculiarities that have accrued during centuries of transmission. Manuscripts from Kashmir, Central Asia and Nepal show deviations from Classical Sanskrit: vernacular verb forms, simplified consonant clusters, and occasional substitutions of Prakrit sounds. Some copies preserve archaic grammatical forms, while others exhibit influence from regional languages or back‑translations from Tibetan and Chinese versions. By comparing parallel passages, the author identifies patterns of error and innovation, highlighting cases where scribes modernised language or inadvertently altered meaning. These linguistic features contribute to our understanding of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit and illustrate how canonical texts were living documents shaped by the linguistic environment of their copyists. The study underscores the need for critical editions that account for such variation.
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Conclusion
The linguistic diversity of the Saddharmapundarika manuscripts shows that the text was not transmitted in a uniform classical language but adapted across regions and periods. Recognising these variations enhances philological work and enriches our appreciation of how Buddhist communities preserved and reshaped scripture.