The Sanskrit Udanavarga and the Tocharian B Udanastotra: a window on the relationship between religious and popular language on the northern Silk Road

The Sanskrit Udanavarga and the Tocharian B Udanastotra: a window on the relationship between religious and popular language on the northern Silk Road

Author: 
Peyrot, Michael
Publisher: 
Cambridge University Press
Date published: 
2016
Record type: 
Journal Title: 
Bulletin of the school of Oriental and African studies
Source: 
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 79, No. 2, June 2016, pp. 305-327
Abstract: 

The majority of the Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts from the northern part of the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang (China) were found in an area where the local languages Tocharian A and B were spoken. In this article, the interplay of Sanskrit, the religious language, and Tocharian, the popular language, is investigated based on the example of the relationship between the Sanskrit Udanavarga and the Tocharian B Udanastotra. To this end, a reconstruction of the text of the introduction to the Udanastotra is attempted, which forms the transition from the Udanavarga to the Udanastotra proper. It is argued that this Tocharian B text was found in otherwise Sanskrit manuscripts, which suggests that speakers of Tocharian preferred certain doctrinal texts in Sanskrit.

Language: 

CITATION: Peyrot, Michael. The Sanskrit Udanavarga and the Tocharian B Udanastotra: a window on the relationship between religious and popular language on the northern Silk Road . : Cambridge University Press , 2016. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 79, No. 2, June 2016, pp. 305-327 - Available at: https://library.au.int/sanskrit-udanavarga-and-tocharian-b-udanastotra-window-relationship-between-religious-and-popular-0