The Bhaisajyaguru-Sutra and the Buddhism of Gilgit

Abstract

This work is made up of three uncqunl parts. The first part contains an edition of the Sanskrit text of what I have called 'Redaction A' of the Bhaisajyaguru-Sutra. This edition is based on a single manuscript found at Gilgit; with variants from four other manuscripts, also found at Gilgit, given in the critical apparatus. Stylistically 'Redaction A' seems to represent an 'unrevised" version of the text, perhaps a first attempt at Gilgit to commit an oral tradition to writing. The second part consists of a critical edition of the Tibetan translation of a Sanskrit text of the Bhaisajyaguru-Sutra. This edition is based on the Derge, Narthan, Peking and Lhasa versions of the 'phags pa bcom ldan 'das sman gyi bla bai uu rya'i 'od kyi snon gyi smon lam gyi khyad par rgyas pa and the 'phags pa de bzin gaega pa bdun gyi snon gyi smon lam gyi khyad par rgyas pa. The Derge versions form the basis of the edition. The first and second parts are preliminary studies to the third and main part, since the whole was not intended as a study of the Bhaisajyaguru-Sutra per se. This third part is devoted to an English translation of the Sanskrit text, with notes; the latter making up the bulk of the work. In these notes I have attempted to show how a literate member of the Gilgit community, assuming he was familiar with the texts known to have been available to him, would have, or could have, understood the Bhaisajyaguru-Sutra, I have also attempted to show what was and what was not unique to Bhaisajyaguru-Sutra vis-a-vis the Gilgit collection as a whole, and to make the first tentative steps towards reconstructing the 'Buddhism' current at Gilgit in the 5th-6th century.