Some remarks on Dharmak(s)ema's translation of the Suvar(n)aprabhāsa Sūtra/Golden Light Sutra based on the Sanskrit manuscripts from Xinjiang in the collection of the British Library——A multi-text comparative analysis
Recently,a large corpus of Central Asian manuscripts in the collection of the British Li-brary have been edited and published.Among them were the fragments of the Sanskrit manuscript of the Suvar(n)aprabhāsa Sūtra from Kucha and Hotan areas,Xinjiang.This is the earliest Sanskrit manuscript of the Sūtra known thus far,buts also the one that was closest to Dharmak(s)ema's Chinese translation of the Sutra in time.Based on comparisons of these two texts,along with late Sanskrit manuscripts,Yijing's(义净)translation,and Tibetan manuscripts,this article thoroughly analysed the relationship between the Sanskrit and Chinese manuscripts of the Sūtra,as well as the characteristics of Dharmak(s)ema's trans-lation.It is argued that the Sanskrit manuscript from Xinjiang is most similar to Dharmak (s)ema's transla-tion,and displays the early form of the Sūtra.In Dharmak(s)ema's version,some degrees of simplification and the combinations of similar contents can be observed for the matter of clarity.Some explanatory re-marks or some Sinicised contents can also be noticed occasionally,indicating the personal style of the translator.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
