Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon: Its Prospects And Future

Prospect & Future

Presented by : Min Bahadur Shakya Director Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods Chakupat, Lalitpur, Nepal

CONTENTS  Introduction  Exploring Sanskrit Buddhist canon 3. Nepal-Central Asia-Gilgit-Afganistan-Tibetan A. Region-People’s Republic of china 4. K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute-India 5. Sanskrit texts - Japan 6. Early Buddhist Manuscript Project -UK/USA

 Importance of Restoration of Sanskrit Buddhist texts  Digitization of Sanskrit Buddhist Canon-DSBC 9. Significance of the Project 10. A pioneering resource for cultural and religious studies 11. Some highlights of the DSBC 12. Help us complete a successful project 13. Conclusion

ORIGIN OF THE PROJECT The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon (DSBC) Project was established in July 3rd, 2003 with support from the University of the West and Nagarjuna Institute of Exact Methods.

DSBC MISSIONS  The mission of DSBC Input project is to save the disappearing Sanskrit Buddhist texts containing great ideas of philosophical principals and then make these texts and ideas accessible to the world at large.  To create, maintain and distribute free of charge an electronic version of Sanskrit Buddhist Tripitaka.

AGREEMENT BETWEEN UWEST AND NIEM A 14 Point Agreement was made on July 3rd, 2003 between UWEST and Nagarjuna Institute represented by Prof. Dr. Lewis Lancaster for UWEST and Mr. Min Bahadur Shakya, for Nagarjuna Institute – Kathmandu.Nepal

INTRODUCTION  The University of the West is engaged in a ground-breaking project to gather, digitize and distribute the original Sanskrit scriptures of the Buddhist faith.  Although Buddhism disappeared from its Indian homeland hundreds of years ago, many of its sacred texts were preserved in Nepal, the birth place of Lord Buddha. Now, with the collaboration of Kathmandu’s Nagarjuna Institute, these texts are again being brought to the world.  The Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon, or DSBC, is an ambitious project to offer the original intellectual and spiritual heritage of Buddhism in digital form. Currently over two hundred scriptures are freely offered at our website.  Our Online Resource - http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/

CHIEF PATRON

MASTER HSING YUN

CO-ORDINATOR

PROF. DR. LEWIS LANCASTER

PHOTOS OF INPUT STAFF

MILAN SHAKYA - PROJECT ASSISTENT

PHOTOS OF INPUT STAFF

Mr. Uday Shakya – Input Staff

Miss Anula Shakya – Input Staff

Miss Roshana Bajracharya – Input Staff

Miss Rashmi Dangol – Input Staff Miss Sajina Dangol – Input Staff

SCREENSHOT OF DSBC WEBSITE

WHAT IS THE DIGITAL BUDDHIST SANSCRIT CANON 2. TEXTS  The e-texts are available both in Unicode Devanagari and Roman with diacritics.  All e-texts can be easily searched and cut-and-pasted into other applications.  Currently HTML is used for all texts.  Our Other formats (eg. plain UTF8 text) may be used in future  There is no markup. Separate files are used for separate chapters  There are no notes, front/end matter or critical apparatus. The e-texts are simply searchable indexes to the published texts.  Priority is given to inputting the texts. Digital search tools and markup are future tasks.

SAMPLE E-TEXTS (ROMAN)

SAMPLE E-TEXTS (DEVANAGARI)

WHY BUDDHIST CANON ?  In India, collections definitely existed in various monasteries, even though the contents of these collections are not precisely known.  In Nepal, a core group of nine Mahāyāna texts (the navasūtra or navadharma) is recognized. These texts were the among the first to be input for the DSBC.  Outside South Asia, in China and Tibet, canons of Buddhist texts were created for the convenience of Buddhist institutions.  A canon is useful for designating texts which are accepted for teaching, study and practice  The DSBC aims to include all texts belonging to the Sanskrit tradition of Buddhism.

WHAT TEXTS ARE INCLUDED ?  In A Sanskrit work is included if:  It is spoken by a Buddha.  Its author regards him/herself as Buddhist.  It was used by Buddhists in preference to texts of other traditions eg. certain grammars and medical texts (‘secular’ Buddhist literature)

WHAT TEXTS SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED ? POOR QUALITY TEXTS  The inclusion of very corrupt texts (eg. from very late manuscripts) can be misleading or counter-productive.  For this reason the DSBC depends on published texts.  High quality editions of texts are often copyrighted works that authors.  Our Other formats (eg. plain UTF8 text) may be used in future  However, fragmentary or incomplete texts can provide useful data for research.

WHAT TEXTS SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED ? 3. VAJRAYANA TEXTS  Many tantric texts were not intended to be openly transmitted, but:  Several of these texts have already been published, so they are no longer secret.  all Vajrayāna traditions maintain that initiation is essential to actually use tantric texts.  to distribute a tantric text digitally does not necessarily disrupt traditions of tantric practice  the common problem of tantric texts being misunderstood (without reference to living tradition or commentaries) will not be solved simply by excluding tantric texts from the canon; they can be easily obtained from libraries.  Some kinds of tantric text, eg. dhāraṇīs and kriyātantras, are not secret and are already being included.  The DSBC is considering the inclusion of all published Vajrayāna texts.

WHO USES A BUDDHIST CANON IN SANSKRIT ? 1. THE MAHAYANA  All Mahāyāna schools derive their authority from Sanskrit texts, even though translations are used outside South Asia.  In translated scriptures, questions of meaning, interpretation and authenticity are sometimes only resolved by consulting the original Sanskrit.  Mahāyāna traditions deriving from Sanskrit texts are very widespread:.  East Asian: China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Chinese overseas  Tibetan: Tibet, Bhutan, India, Nepal, the West.  Old Javanese: Indonesia  Some Buddhist traditions still use Sanskrit texts directly:  Newar Buddhism: Nepal, Newar Diaspora areas (India, etc.)  Sanskrit is also extremely important for the tantric Buddhist traditions:  Mantranaya: Tibetan Buddhism, East Asia, Indonesia

WHO USES A BUDDHIST CANON IN SANSKRIT ? 2. THE SRAVAKAYANA  Historically, some Śrāvakayāna schools used Sanskrit as well.  A handful of non-doctrinal Sanskrit texts are still transmitted in areas that have become totally Theravādin: Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia.  Ironically, most Sanskrit manuscripts from Theravādin areas have no direct connection to Buddhism.  Yet many Sanskrit texts of Indian Buddhism are older than Pali commentarial works  Thus Sanskrit texts have at least exegetical importance for Theravādin Buddhists

Who uses a Buddhist canon in Sanskrit? (3) Beyond sectarianism • • • • • • • • • •

The purpose of the DSBC is to provide a free, non-sectarian resource for research and study The DSBC permits the entire Buddhist canon to be instantly searched. This is an enormous breakthrough for scholarship Scholars, individuals and institutions are increasingly using the DSBC in research Most research on Sanskrit Buddhist texts is now done in Japan and Germany Most visitors to the DSBC’s website are from the USA In just two years, the website has received over a million page impressions Population of areas where living religions are based directly on Sanskrit texts: approx. 1.5 billion people (East Asia, Nepal) Population of areas where religious traditions are connected to Sanskrit Buddhist texts: approx. 3 billion people (+India, Southeast Asia)

• picture of world map with Buddhist areas highlighted

A Classification Scheme for the DSBC • • • • • • • • • • • •

- The first phase of the DSBC uses three broad categories: 1. sūtras (62 texts) 2. śāstras (85 texts) 3. stotras (108 texts) A new classification scheme is needed: - to make texts easier to find - to convey a text’s approximate historical origin - to show a text’s traditional doctrinal position(s) The new classification scheme is being based mainly on modern surveys: the Sanskrit Buddhist Literature series (Japan) the Systematic Survey series (Germany) the History of Indian Literature (Netherlands) Modern classifications order texts by period and author as

Towards a Comprehensive Sanskrit Canon (1): Seeking Published Texts • • • • • •

There is still no up-to-date bibliography of all published Sanskrit texts Gaining access to published editions of Sanskrit texts remains difficult Even texts which appear in print are often very hard to find in libraries Most reliable editions published are published in the West, and their distribution is constrained by copyright To incorporate these editions, resources are needed for the time-consuming business of copyright clearance Some editions can only be used through the goodwill of their editors or publishers

Towards a Comprehensive Sanskrit Canon (2): Buddhist ‘Secular’ Literature • • • • • • • • • • •

Buddhists composed texts on subjects not directly concerned with Buddhism: - Grammar (vyākaraṇa) and lexicography (koṣa) - Poetry (kāvya) and poetics (alaṁkāra) - Medicine (ayurveda), etc. Yet texts on ‘secular’ subjects were written in line with Buddhist principles: - Smaller and clearer grammars do without Vedic forms of Sanskrit - Poetics is connected with theories of meaning - Medicine is of practical benefit to living beings Historically, Buddhist institutions transmitted many ‘secular’ texts - Manuscript collections in Nepal and Sri Lanka are evidence for this That these texts are sometimes used outside Buddhism does not diminish the Buddhist affiliation of their ideas or authors

Towards a Comprehensive Sanskrit Canon (3): Buddhist Inscriptions

• Buddhist inscriptions in Sanskrit tell us how Buddhism was actually practiced • Buddhist inscriptions in Sanskrit appear as far away as Korea, the Maldives, and Afghanistan • Buddhist inscriptions in are also texts composed by Buddhist authors • These inscriptions contain language, ideas and phrases from the Buddhist canon • It is natural to study inscriptions along with canonical texts • The problems of locating, inputting and distributing e-texts of inscriptions are similar to those of canonical texts

Towards a Comprehensive Sanskrit Canon (4): Inputting from manuscripts • • • • • •

• •

A large number of texts have still not been published in any form Before modern communications and digital photography, access to manuscripts was limited It is now possible to input directly from digital scans of manuscripts Many unpublished texts are clearly important within the Sanskrit tradition - eg. Certain avadānas, stotras, and tantras A census of manuscripts is needed to determine the most important unpublished texts, and the most reliable manuscripts Texts input from manuscripts will be diplomatic transcriptions, not editions Transcriptions provide useful data for future editions, and

Some MANUSCRIPTS collection

A Sample Text from Asa Archives, Kathmandu, Nepal

SOURCES OF DSBC (MANUSCRIPTS)

A Sample Text from Asa Archives, Kathmandu, Nepal

Plans to complete the Sanskrit Buddhist canon: 1( goals)

• We aim to finish the input of texts in 2010 • Feedback from scholars is sought to improve the integrity of the DSBC • The final step will be to publish and distribute a CD with digital search tools

Plans to complete the Sanskrit Buddhist Canon (2): Seeking feedback • Feedback from scholars and users is sought prior to completion: • - on any texts that should be included that have not been (or vice versa) • - on the accuracy of input texts • - on the classification of the canon • - on digitally collating the texts with translations in Chinese, Tibetan and Western languages

Plans to complete the Sanskrit Buddhist Canon (3): Needed Resources

• Funding is still needed for the following tasks, in order of priority: • Accessing and inputting all remaining printed texts • Proofreading of texts already input • Seeking copyright clearance for recent editions published outside South Asia • Creating custom digital search and study tools for the whole canon • Pressing and distribution of CDs for areas where internet access is not widespread • Long-term support for the internet presence of the DSBC

CONCLUSION  We understand that there is no complete closed Sanskrit Buddhist canon in Buddhist history.  Sanskrit literature in Buddhism is by no means exclusively Mahayanist.  Various sects of Hinayana including Sarvastivada possess a canon of their own and a rich literature in Sanskrit.  Several original Sanskrit Buddhist Mss. are found in Nepal Archives dating from 11th century to 20th century.  Several fragments of a Sanskrit canon of the Buddhist are also discovered in Chinese Dunhoung by Peliot, - Chinese Turkestan by Pischel, Central Asia by Stein and in Tibet by Rahul Sankrityayana.  The digitization of these Sanskrit Buddhist texts was considered a desirable but distant goals for many celebrated Universities and organizations for many year.  But now we are confident that UWEST/NIEM will achieve this goal in no time.  UWEST will be premiere University who is producing Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon for the first time in the history of electronic Buddhist world.

AKNOWLEDGMENT  Thanks to the vision of Grand Master Hsing Yun who sponsored this project generously.  Thanks to Prof. Lewis Lancaster, who initiated and inspired to work on this project.  Extremely grateful to our respected UWEST past Presidents, Dr. Naichen, Prof. Roger Smidth and patrons who put much efforts in actualizing this meritorious project a successful venture.  Thanks also to Dr. Guruge, Prof. Varnasuria, and his team who showed great concern in actualizing this project a success.  Finally, I’d like express my deep gratitude to respected Prof.Allen Houng, the chairman of the University of the WEST who demonstrated great concern on this project and provided me this opportunity for the presentation to our honorable sponsors and well wishers.  On the last but the least, I’d like to thank for the organizer led by Ven. Huimin Bhiksu and Dr. Marcus Biggenhimer who invited me in this august conference and have an opportunity to share the missions of DSBC and for their kind and generous hospitality during our sojourn in this beautiful Dharma drum Mountain.  Also I owed a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. Aiming Tu whose expertise on digital world is well known. I have learnt a lot with his association and close friendship. Thank you