Venue: Gillis Lecture Theatre, Balliol College, Oxford, OX1 3BJ

Eng Jin Ooi (International Buddhist College, Sadao, Thailand)

https://ibc.ac.th/en/node/3349

The Pubbayoga of the Milindapañha: Parallel transmissions in Siam from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries CE

The Milindapañha (Questions of Milinda) textual tradition in Pali has been preserved across various genres of texts in Siam. These include the Milindapañha (vitthāra), its condensed version, the Milindapañha Saṅkhepa, a segment of another text in verse, the Vaṅsamālinī, and the first chapter of the chronicle of the celebrated Emerald Buddha, the Ratanabimbavaṃsa. Furthermore, even within the longer vitthāra versions, several recensions have circulated, specifically the Ayutthaya, Lamphun, and Bangkok recensions. These recensions show noticeable differences in content, length, syntax, and style. On the other hand, the Milindapañha Saṅkhepa is not just a section of the longer version; a significant part of its content is absent from the three recensions mentioned. Conversely, the Ratanabimbavaṃsa, written in Northern Thailand during the fifteenth century, transmitted a brief opening section of the Milindapañha, the Pubbayoga, which recounts the historical connection between the two main interlocutors of the text, the monk Nāga-sena and King Milinda. Some of these texts have been transmitted together since the fifteenth century. As a result, the development of the Siamese Milindapañha Pali textual tradition can be traced from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries, covering nearly five hundred years. This lecture provides an initial comparative analysis of the literary traditions of these texts found in palm-leaf manuscripts preserved in Thailand, with a primary focus on the Pubbayoga. The analysis reveals a complex, multilayered interweaving of texts, redactors’ innovations, and the complementary roles these texts play in maintaining the literary tradition. Therefore, the textual tradition of Milindapañha has not remained unchanged over the centuries in the hands of dynamic and autonomous literary centres across pre-modern Thailand, and the surviving manuscripts reflect its evolution over time and place. This suggests the need for closer examination of other recensions transmitted within different textual communities.

We hope also to be able to offer the possibility of joining remotely via Zoom. Please email Andrew Bishop <info@palitextsociety.org> for the registration link.