Dear Johannes,
although it’s very far from Tibet, it appears that in Kerala a particular letter-numeral systems was used as a ‘cryptographic code’ through which only the initiated in the system were able to reorder the intentionally jumbled folios of a manuscript. On this, see Renou/Filliozat,
L’Inde classique, p. 708.
Best wishes,
Marco Franceschini
———————————
Fixed-term Researcher
University of Bologna
Department of History and Cultures
via Zamboni 33 - 40126 Bologna - Italy
marco.franceschini3@unibo.it---
Il giorno 29/apr/2016, alle ore 18:51, Johannes Bronkhorst <
Johannes.Bronkhorst@unil.ch> ha scritto:
Dear friends and colleagues,
A friend asked me to post the following question:
From Amy Heller (tibetologist): I am currently studying a 408 page
11th-12th century Tibetan Prajnaparamita from Tholing whose page numbering
does not conform to the specifics of W Tibetan manuscripts - there are many
"small" aberrant details , although the numbering is on the whole legible. A
colleague suggested to me that this is a reflection, perhaps, of an Indian
tradition to conceal accurate numbering from the eyes of infidels,
presumably in vigor in N India, ca 10th-12th c (in Hindu and Buddhist
circles) to conceal from potential Muslim eyes?? I asked an Indian friend
(curator in an art museum) who did not know of this tradition at all, nor
was I aware of it. Is this spurious or genuine? Feedback would be most
appreciated, thanks!
Johannes Bronkhorst
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