A Gandhari Version of the Anattalakkhaṇa-sutta

Abstract

This Gāndhārī version of the Buddha’s Discourse on Not-self (P Anattalakkhaṇa-sutta, Skt. *Anātmalakṣaṇa-sūtra) is the second of six sūtras or discourses preserved on scroll 22 (RS 22) of the Robert Senior collection. The Gāndhārī title *Aṇatvalakṣaṇa Sutra has been reconstructed on the basis of the title given in the Pali parallels. This discourse records the second teaching given by the Buddha shortly after his awakening to the group of five monks at the Deer Park near Benares. The significance of this teaching and its exposition of the five aggregates (G kadha, P khandha, Skt. skandha) as having the nature of “not-self” (G aṇatva, P anatta, Skt. anātman) is indicated by the numerous versions available in Pali, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese, and now Gāndhārī. This digital journal article presents the first diplomatic publication of the Gāndhārī sutra including a diplomatic edition, reconstruction, hybrid edition, translation, Sanskrit chāyā, a glossary, palaeographic report and images. Details of the parallels and a preliminary study of the text were published in Allon 2020.