Sanskrit-Tibetan Textual Work

[Stephen Hodge]

Hello, Ulrich

> I am based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and it seems that we do not have
Nagao's
> work in Denmark, neither at our Asian department of the University
nor at
> the Danish Royal Library.   I come to London regularly and might
very well take
> you up on this offer. I will let you know later.

If you come to London, perhaps you are also visiting SOAS -- I am in
and out of there frequently.   The SOAS library also does not have the
Nagao books either.

> >There is also the Golden Tenjur MS recently available from China.
> I have not heard about this Tenjur edition before. From where is it
> available?
The Golden Tenjur MS is based on the 'Phying-ba sTag-rtse edition
based on the Zha-lu gSer-khang edition, and was prepared under the
supervision of Pho-lha-nas bSod-nams sTobs-rgyas.  It has been
published in an offset edition aand can be obtained via the Institute
for Minority & Religion, Ning-xia Academy of Social Science in
Yinchuan City.

> >I was not so much thinking of ms tenjurs but possible versions
> >surviving independently --- has anything turned up at Tabo for
example?
> What is "Tabo"?

Tabo Monastery is in Spiti, Himchal Pradesh.  It has the jumbled
remnants (35,000 folios) of what was once a very extensive library
with many early high-quality mss.   There has been an Austro-Italian
project to sort, study and microfilm what is there.  Prof Steinkellner
is involved in the project, I believe.

There are also the mss Kanjurs at Tawang (aka O-rgyan-gling edition)
in Arunchal Pradesh which are being/have been microfilmed.  These
editions fall outside the early Narthang collection from which all the
printed editions in general derive.  I do not have a handlist for the
texts included but you might try to find one since these mss include a
number of items that are normally relegated to the Tenjur in printed
editions.

> >For example, I have read a lot of stuff by Long-chen-pa
> >who quotes it extensively with variants.
> I am interested. Was that in his mdzod bdun or elsewhere?

mDzod-bdun and the Ngal-gso sKor-gsum


[snip]

> >Also have you looked through Sankrityayana's list of mss
> >he noted during his several trips to Tibet before WW2 ?

> No, although I have heard about Sankrityayana before, I am not
familiar
> with any list of mss by him. Do you have a reference?

There were about three reports by him in the Journal of the Bihar &
Orissa Research Society during the late thirties -- I have a photocopy
somewhere but at present I cannot tell what years they appeared in --
again, if you come to London and are interested, I am sure we can
arrange something.

> >Anyway, though for me personally Chandrakirti is very unappealing
as a
> >person and "thinker", I wish you well with your project.

> Well, different strokes for different folks, I guess. I have earlier
done
> nine years of scholastic studies with native Tibetan scholars in
India,
> mostly studying Candrakiirti. I personally find his approach very
> significant.

Indeed, yes.  I did not intend a put-down of your work though if we do
ever meet, we can discuss the significance of Chandrakirti.  Were your
native scholars Gelukpas in the main ?

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge