Asvaghosa's texts

[Roland Steiner]

On 17 Nov 99, at 5:01, GHOSE,LYNKEN,MR wrote:

> According to E.H. Johnston, the 2 manuscripts for the Saundarananda
> are in the library of H.H. the Maharaja of Nepal. Now, this was a
> while back, so I'm not sure where they are now.
The two manuscripts of the Saundarananda (in "Nevaarii script"
and in "Praacii.nanevaarii script" respectively) are listed and
described in the following catalogue: Nepaalaraajakiiya
Viirapustakaalayasthapustakaanaa.m B.rhatsuuciipatram. [...]
T.rtiiyakha.n.dah [...]. Kaa.thamaa.n.duu. Sa.m 2023, pp. 125-
127. Johnston´s "L" dates from about 1165 A.D. and is partly
damaged, whereas Johnston´s "P" (18th cent.) is complete.

One palmleaf ms of the Buddhacarita is located in the National
Archives Kathmandu, two modern paper mss are found in the
Tokyo University Library (in Nepalese characters and in
Devanaagarii respectively), see Seiren Matsunami: A Catalogue
of the Sanskrit Manuscripts in the Tokyo University Library,
Tokyo 1965, Nos. 256 and 257.

> I believe Luders published some- thing on this,
Heinrich Lueders: Bruchstuecke buddhistischer Dramen. Berlin
1911. (Kleinere Sanskrittexte. Heft 1.) [Repr.: Wiesbaden 1979
(Monographien zur indischen Archaeologie, Kunst und
Philologie. 1.)]
Heinrich Lueders: Das "Saariputraprakara.na, ein Drama des
A"svagho.sa. Berlin 1911. (Sitzungsberichte der Koeniglich
Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin) [Reprinted
in: Heinrich Lueders. Philologica Indica. Goettingen 1940, pp.
190-213].

> but I'm not sure if there's been more recent work.
Biswanath Bhattacharya: A"svagho.sa. A Critical Study of his
Authentic Kaavyas, and the Apocryphal Works [...].
Santiniketan 1976 (see also the justified critical review by Jan
Willem de Jong, in: Indo-Iranian Journal 20.1978, pp. 124-127).
Also: Roland Steiner: "Standard Works on Indian Literature - A
Critique. With Special Reference to A.K. Warder´s Treatment
of Dharmakiirti´s Vaadanyaaya 19.9-17", in:
Bauddhavidyaasudhaakara.h. Studies in Honour of Heinz
Bechert on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Swisttal-
Odendorf 1997 (Indica et Tibetica. 30.), pp. 615-623 [concerning
Warder´s conclusion for the "technicalities of composition" in
A"svagho.sa´s play Raa.s.trapaalanaa.taka].

With regards,
Roland Steiner