On some quotations in the

Uighur Insadi-sutra

Peter Zieme

The main topic of the so-called Insadi-siltra, a rather late Uighur manu-
(2J
script of the Yuan period edited by S. Tezcan, is the pravaratpl cere-
mony. Although the title of the "sutra" is still enigmatic, it has been
possible to identify some parts of the text in the meantime, but not the
work as a whole.

I .

After explaining the reasons for the foundation of the pravaratJa cere-
mony the manuscript continues with the tale about Sundar! who was
murdered by some wicked monks. The Uighur version is a free render-
ing of the tale that precludes the possibility of comparing it to one
(3)
specific text. Parts of the story are written in alliteration verses which
shows that it is a free retelling of the story. Lines 140-150 contain a
saying of the Buddha introduced in the preceding lines (11. 136-139) :
anta otrii al bilig-kii uzanmaklzg atz kotriilmiS tiikal bilgii biliglig ta17ri
ta17risi burhan inca tep biigiinii yarlzkadz "Then the Devatadeva Buddha
who is well-versed in the means, who is exalted, who has the complete
knowledge, thus deigned to reveal."
The Uighur text is as follows:
(a) na17 alkznmazlar tiikanmazliir kzlmis ayzg kzlznClzglar:

(b) il7Jmzntzn yiiz kalp-lar artsarlar yma

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

(c) ugurzn yzkzn koriip iidin kolu-szn bulup

(d) ymii titS-in beriir incip tznlzglarka

(explanatory addition):
(a') ancolayu ok ma17a ugrzn yzkzn koriip iidin kolu-szn bulup otgorak
miin kadag sozliimiiklig ymii tiisin beriirliir < tznl(z)gka >
(b') incip kzltnczm uu kormlitin yiiglirii bolup turmzs ol:
(c') kormliz yiinii ol kzlznczm-zn kim-ni kayo-nz iizii lirsiir ymii tzdgalz
slirgiirgiili udaez bolsar tep:
The Chinese equivalent are verses that occur frequently in the
whole canon, these can be found on CBETA. Here I mention only sutra
~ ~
14 of the Maharatnakutasutra and the [Mulasarvttstivttdin] Vinayavibhanga
as one of the Vinaya texts. In both texts the verses are identical:
®~~sM J5JT1t*1'-L

The relationship between the Uighur text and its Chinese equiva-
lent is not so obvious. One observes that the second Chinese pada cor-
responds to pada (a) of the Uighur text.
(a) nli1J alkznmazlar tiikiinmiizliir kzlmzs ayzg kzlznClzglar:
(b) ii17mzntzn yiiz kalplar iirtsiirliir ymii
(a) ®~~st;t; (b) J51Tft*1'-L
(c) ugurzn yzkzn koriip iidin koluszn bulup

(c) IZ9~1t~Wi
(d) ymii tiis-in beriir incip tznlzglarka
(d) ~~liHEH3~.
Translation:
(a-b) The (persons) who have done evil deeds will not diminish and
disappear, even if hundred kalpas pass.
(c) Seeing the reasons and grounds, finding the periods and moments,

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

(d) they give the fruits to the sentient beings.

The Uighur text continues:
(a') Thus it is also for me: seeing the reasons and grounds, finding the
periods and moments, they give the fruits of sin (ful) speaking.
(b') My deed finds no sleep and is (always) present,
(c') even if unseen and even if someone were there able to prevent and
hinder my deed by whomever and whereever.

II.

In another section of the text there is a quotation of less clear origin,

because it is related to the world and to the dharma, as the text says:
bo yma yertinciitii darmda takz turmiS toro iiriir:
nan yavzz kisi-lar birlii katzlmaktzn adgii kutlug tznl(z)glar
enc iisiin bolmakzg kormazliir:
(6)
yavzz kzsiliir yavzz savta ok uzanmaklzg bolurlar:
"There is a rule in the world and in the dharma: By joining wicked
people good and dignified persons cannot procure sane and well being.
Wicked people are versed in wicked deeds."
It is highly probable that this saying is of Indian origin, although
it will be difficult to derive it from a specific verse. Here are some
(7)
possible candidates from the Pancatantra I would like to cite:
"Mit wie Gearteten er zusammenwohnt und wie Gearteten er
dient und wie geartet er zu werden wiinscht, so geartet wird der Mensch.
Erniedrigt, mein Guter, wird der Mensch infolge der Vereinigung mit
Niedrigen. Durch Gleiche bleibt er gleich, und durch Vorztigliche wird
(8)
er vorztiglich."
Or at another place:
"Ein Mensch nimmt die jeweiligen V orzlige und Fehler an durch die

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-stltra

Berlihrung mit Guten und Schlechten, wie der Wind, der tiber ver-
(9)
schiedene Gegenden dahinweht, gute und schlechte Gerliche."
Or further:
"Wenn man sich m die Gesellschaft von Minder [wertig] en begibt, so
wird der [eigene] V erstand gemindert. Durch Gleiche gelangt man
(10)
[nur] zur Gleichheit, und [erst] durch Uberlegene zur Uberlegenheit."
To some degree a verse in T. 211 has a similar content: "A vile
person affects others, as if they were near a putrid thing. Gradually
being deluded, they practice what is wrong, and, being unaware of it,
(II) .
they accomplish what is bad."

III.
After finishing the bhaktachinnaka ceremony, the Buddha explains the
necessity for the pravara1Jit ceremony (II. 406-476). The following big
passage, i.e. 11. 477 to 620, comprises the Pravaranii-sutra based on the
(IZ)
Chinese version already treated earlier by me.

IV.
(13)
In the exposition on the pravara1Jit ceremony there is one passage not
attested elsewhere on seven groups of persons whose pravarana cere-
~ .
monies fail:
1. persons who do not behave according to the szla rules,
2. persons who conceal sins,
3. persons who have feelings of hate and revenge,
4. persons who see sins,
5. persons who have many thoughts,
6. persons without faith,
7. persons who nod off during preaching.
._ 4-
 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

In the first three cases the text ends in slokas given m Chinese and
Uighur translation. In my book on Old Turkic poetry I considered
(Hi)
them to be non-poetical transformations. Sections four, six and seven
have no quotations, while in section five a short passage of the
Abhidharmakosabhtt§ya (T. 1558) is cited.
(16)
The Uighur text is as follows: kaltz bo sav tzltagznta sudurta ymii
sozliimis bar 'sakznc ig iirur sakznc kart iirur sakznc ok iirur sakzncszz
bolmak kamagta yeg iistunki amrzlmak iiriir' tep "Like it is said regard-
(17)
ing this in a siltra: 'Thought is illness, thought is a carbuncle, thought
is an arrow. To be without thought is the highest restfulness of all."'
(18)
The Chinese parallel is: ~m~ows~DNif~Diio ;5r~~~1J!IPJ.Mo
"La sa1JlifiJI est maladie! La sa1Jlifitt est ulcere! La sa1Jlifitt est fleche! L'
absence de samj'fiii est hebetement! Cela est tranquille, cela est excel-
• (19)

lent, le naivasamj'fiiinasa1Jliiiilyatana!"
While the first half of the Uighur rendering is a word for word
translation, if one disregards the order of "illness - carbuncle -
(20)
arrow" (in the original text the "arrow" is in the middle), the latter
n
half is rather freely translated, but fits into the wider context.
=
K. Rohrborn investigated the before-mentioned sloka texts m
(23)
connection with the pronunciation of Chinese of that period and region.
He comes to the conclusion that "die chinesischen Zeichen mit chinesi-
(24)
scher Lautung (ondoku) zu lesen. waren." But on the other hand, one
may argue that the Uighur scribe principally used Chinese characters
in these quotations, but transcribed them when he did not remember
how the character should be written. But to use transcription to spell
them does not mean that the scribe or the reader really used the
Chinese spelling, at least this fact does not contradict the theory that
(25)
the Chinese characters were used only as heterograms.

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Jnsadi-sutra

So far these three stanza groups have remained unidentified, no

Chinese parallel was found. Here I would like to discuss a possible
identification of the second group with a Chinese verse from one of the
dharmapada translations.
The Chinese five-syllable verses m BT III are for the greater
part written in Chinese characters, but partly in Uighur transcription.
The only Chinese version of the dharmapada translations which like-
wise has five syllable verses, is T. 213, the others (T. 210, T. 212) have
each four characters per line. To a certain extent by comparing the
text of T. 213 to the Uighur passage, one may argue that there exists
a relationship between them finding the exact nature of this relation-
ship is one of the ongoing tasks. What is clear at the moment is the
fact that there is no perfect congruence. Thus one has to consider that
the Uighur composer used sources other than those known to us now
or that he quoted the text in a very free manner. It is worth mention-
ing that he also transcribed some characters, while he wrote most of
them in Chinese.
In the following I give the text of BT III, 652-665: kaltz bo sav
.tzltagznta slokta yma sozlamis bar:
1) Jj\~~!]\5 azkya ayzgzg az ol tep b"rtgiiliik lirmaz:
2) E§(=ij 1)~1~-t!:t~ tartar iiciin ken azuntakz limglikig:
(Z6)
3) 7]'< tik h1 /J" {x} suv tamzzzmz nlicii azkya lirsar ymti
4) 1$TWJT so *~ lirii lirii tosgurmzs tag ulug badiik idisl!irig
ifrtgiiliik ayzg kzlznClarzg kayu tznl(z)glar kzlgalz
kiis!isarlar
kiSi tilindin ozarlar tamulartzn ozmazlar:

A comparison between this text and the supposed original shows that

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

only 8 of the 30 Chinese characters are identical or quasi identical,

they are marked by bold characters in the following table:
Uighur version Chinese version (T. 213)
1) Jj\~*Jj\.~ ~~~J\.~w

2) ~(=5 D~~t!ti!iJ<: t)~~~¥~

3) * tik hi /J\ {} Jkiil£~1¥&
4) ~·~so::k~ *FJJR'::k~
5) ~:sa-<-mH~
,.:., 1Ti:i ~~if~~
(2'1)
6) A%~$t~~ -~~JJi::k.
But the semantic correspondances are much greater as can be deduced
by comparing it to the other known parallels and the general context.
(28)
The Sanskrit parallel as established by Bernhard is U dakavarga 5:
nalparp. manyeta papasya naitarp. mam agami~yati I
udabindinipatena mahakumbho upi puryate I
puryanti balal) papair hi stokastokarp. krtair api I I.
This text corresponds to the Pali version (Papavagga 121):
rna 'pamafifietha papassa na mantarp. agamissati
udabindunipatena udakumbho 'pi purati
(29)
purati balo papassa thokathokampi acina:rp..
These texts are well known, many translations of them exist. One
may translate the lines in this manner: "Think not lightly of evil, say-
ing, 'It will not come to me.' Drop by drop is the pot of water filled.
(30)
Likewise, the fool, gathering it little by little, fills himself with evil."
Referring to this verse, the dhammapada commentary retells the
following story: "A monk who failed to keep his requisites in order is
summoned before the Teacher, and expresses little concern over what
he has done, saying that he has committed only a slight fault. The
(31)
Teacher rebukes him for regarding an evil deed as a small matter.''

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

The verse is often cited. Here I will only mention the quotation in
the Cibei daochang chan/a as this text was widely used in Uighur Bud-
(32l
dhist circles:

7]<~jfff~M?t'J.j(~o

!J\~/['fJ~j;)pX;~o

~~Jj\~j;)~~~o

1J,~.PJTfl @J;)~~ o
(33)
j(~~~Do

The Cibei daochang chan/a is well-known in Uighur translation where

(34)
it bears the title KSanti kzlguluk nom bitig. The passage cited here is
preserved neither among the fragments of the Turfan Collection in
n •
Berlin nor among those of the Petersburg Collection.
In the following notes I will give comments on some details.

Verses 1-2
In his study K. Rohrborn wrote: "der atli. Ubersetzer hat eine Negation
{31)
(iirmiiz) in den Text gebracht, die die chin. Vorlage nicht hat." Now,
however, one has to consider the context. Accordingly one observes
that the verse begins with ~ mo, a negation, which is indeed missing
in the Chinese text of BT III, but which has been tacitly taken over
into the Uighur text: "one should not hide". On the other hand, one
cannot exclude that we have a coypyist's mistake here: iirmiiz for
{38)
iirmiik. The meaning of the sentence does not change in principle.
These two verses can be translated as follows: "One should not hide [a
sin] saying a little sin is little, because this brings suffering in the later
existence."

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

Verses 3-4
At the end of the third verse one Chinese character is m1ssmg. Two
characters are transcribed in Uighur script. From 785cll 7]'(7~ "water
drop" it is obvious that tik represents Chin. ~jiiij di "drop" = tamzzzm,
(39)
hi may transcribe Chin. 1PJ he equivalent to naca. In the next line the
third character is given in Uighur transcription. While K. Rohrborn
(40)
proposed lr shi, I am inclined to see in so
the transcription of Chin. ~
~ a
zhuang "to fill". In T. 213 it is Ef. ying "to fill". For the use of iirii iirii
one may compare jian jian in T. 213 (here: verse 5). In these two
verses half of the characters are identical, and so we may translate the
Uighur text as: "As little as a drop of water may be, gradually it fills
big and large dishes."

Verses 5-6
In the third verse group the expressiOn ~* "evil deed" of T. 213 is
(43)
more or less equal to ~1-T "evil conduct". The pronoun ~ shui is tran-
slated broadly by kayu tznlzglar. There is no Chinese equivalent for
kiisii- "to wish".
The last verse is very different to T. 213, but there is full correspon-
dance between the Chinese and its Uighur counterpart.
Taken together the verse can be translated as follows: "Whoever of
the living beings wishes to do bad deeds that should better be hidden,
escapes from the people's tongue but not from the hells."

v.
{44}
The last passage of the Insadi-sutra 1s gtven only m Chinese, it was
{45)
taken from the Dharmagupta[ka}vinaya.
(46)
BT III T. 1428

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

§?&ffi~: EJ[gffi~

~Di!~~:: ~Di!~~
1~~~J5ff: 1~~J5ff 0

to r.16 !WJM~ : : to J:~o m!WJM ~

~oi*m1~: ~Di:ft=15~1~ [losoaz7m1~J

AM§AJE:: ~Di*AJEM§o
,ht,-~~g.:j-th '•+
{X f±l1=1 :X~.X..{:z:>:o

l!f: Ill {t 1'F1&df:tt~

1:ttiV;JJ! 1~ o
tO r.16 !WJM~ : : =BtDJ:.!WJM~

38=-tJJt!t~ -tJJ~Di!f)(j§t

/f1~1l: 1'1~~E'! 0

Uil:,@ 1=!1"1 *d; :f:ffi

l!f: r~~ ~*,m I)~ =-=.F !l=tJ Pffi ,~o::

The Uighur rendering of the Chinese text gives a clear segmentation

which I follow in my translation: "The pravaranakrama is completed
according to the rules. One can praise all. The monks, the acaryas are
according to the rules all full, all complete. They should follow well
the rules of the religion. They should do Pu":lya, bring offerings to all
communities. Monks, acaryas! When this is the religion of the whole
world and one does not obtain vinaya, one should ask and recite the
sutras." Following this section the text concludes with a short colo-
~ u
phon: ftiE{.'~m "I, Zhengxin, have recited." The last two characters are
mysterious:

-10-
 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

Now I think it ·is possible to read them as 71it it! wan wan expressmg a
good omen similar to the Sanskrit sadhu siidhu. Although the reading
of these two characters is not without problems, at least there is a
possibility that it confirms Geng Shimin's idea of interpreting the sec-
r~9J
ond of these characters as the svastika.

References
F. Bernhard, Sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden X: Udanavarga. Band I-II,
Gottingen 1965, 1968.
J. Brough, The Gandhari Dharmapada, London 1962.
W.W. Burlingame, Buddhist Legends Translated from the Original Pali Text
of the Dhammapada Commentary, Cambridge 1921 (Harvard Oriental
Series 28-30) .
Jin-il Chung, Die PravaraQ.a in den kanonischen Vinaya-Texten der Mulasar-
vastivadin und der Sarvastavadin, Gottingen 1998 (Sanskrit-Worterbuch
der buddhistischen Texte aus den Turfan-Funden, Beiheft 7).
J. Elverskog, Uyghur Buddhist Literature, Turnhout 1997 (=Silk Road
Studies 1).
Geng Shimin, On the Lanzhou Version of the Uighur Abhidharmakosa-
b~ya-jiktt Tattvartha, in: Splitter aus der Gegend von Turfan. Festschrift
fUr Peter Zieme anlaBlich seines 60. Geburtstages, ed. by M. Olmez, S.
Raschmann, Istanbul/Berlin 2002, pp. 75-85.
H. Hartel, Karmavacana. Formulare fUr den Gebrauch im buddhistischen
Gemeindeleben aus ostturkistanischen Sanskrit-Handschriften, Berlin 1956
(Sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden III).
H. Hu-von HinUber, Das Posadhavastu. Vorschriften fUr die buddhistische
Beichtfeier im Vinaya der MUlasarvastivadins, Reinbek 1994 (Studien zur
Indologie und Iranistik 13).

-11-
 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

0. von Hintiber and K.R. Norman, eds. Dhammapada, Oxford 1995.

L. de La Vallee Poussin, L' Abhidharmakosa de V asubandhu. Traduction et
annotations, tome V, Bruxelles 1980.
E. Lamotte, Le traite de la Grande vertu de sagesse de Nagarjuna (Mahapra-
jfiaparamitasastra), Vol. I, Louvain/Leuven 1966 (reprint).
K. Rohrborn, Zur Frage des "Transponierenden Lesens" von chinesischen
Texten in spatuigurischer Zeit, in: Central Asiatic Journal 29 (1985), pp.
85-97.
:!AA~m Shioiri Ryodo, ~1J:@::t~·~mr7) JJX:li [Jihi dojo senbo no seiritsu], in:
'*~/7'\ m·:;fl'! t.. -rr1v [~ d-k
-±-I¥~tm±'""-Uil2~;::t~'*3ti:Thlt:??o~.ffr
1=1 filiJ ~ ~rs-i'iLii?.<l.!§:!Jf'.A.WI %Fiftll:7R~lli<r.A.v-"D''I!o' c... .x.. L~ o yo- no sh"ISO- t o
bunka-] [Yoshioka hakushi kanreki kinen Do kyo kenkyu ronshu], Tokyo
1977, pp. 501-521.
J±:tsi1'JiEJA M. Shogaito, o ~/Ji)fJI'lry 1 :7"JL/~'if)(~<7)1Jff3'E-ry 1 :7"Jv)(':f:~gc~
X t ry 1 :7'' Jv ~'if1k ~ 7 ;:\'- .A r -Uighur Manuscripts in St. Petersburg.
Chinese texts in Uighur script and Buddhist Uighur texts, Kyoto 2003.
M. Shogaito, How were Chinese Characters read in Uighur?, in: Turfan
Revisited-The First Century of Research into the Arts and Cultures of the
Silk Road (ed. by D. Durkin-Meisterernst, S.-C. Raschmann, ]. Wilkens, M.
Yaldiz, P. Zieme), Berlin 2004, 321-324.
S. Tezcan, Das uigurische Insadi-SUtra, Berliner Turfantexte III, Berlin 1974.
]. Wilkens, Buddhistische Beichttexte (Altttirkische Handschriften Teil 9),
Stuttgart 2003 (Verzeichnis der Orientalischen Handschriften in Deutsch-
land XIII, 17) .
Ch. Willemen, Dharmapada. A Concordance to Udanavarga, Dhammapada,
and the Chinese Dharmapada Literature, Bruxelles 1974.
Ch. Willemen, The Scriptural Text: Verses of the Doctrine, With Parables.
Translated from the Chinese of Fa-li and Fa-chti (Taisho Volume 4, Num-
ber 211), Berkeley 1999.
P. Zieme, Das Praviirarpi-Sutra in altttirkischer Uberlieferung, in: A Green
Leaf. Papers in Honour of Professor Jes P. Asmussen (Hommages et
Opera Minora Vol. XII), Leiden 1988, pp. 445-453.
P. Zieme, Die Stabreimtexte der Uiguren von Turfan und Dunhuang. Studien
zur altttirkischen Dichtung, Budapest 1991.

(1) Herewith I express my gratitude to Mr. D. Durkin-Meisterernst for

brushing up my English.

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

(2) Tezcan 1974 (BT III).

(3) A list of the relevant texts is given by Lamotte 1966, p. 507, n. L
(4) T. 310, 335b14-15.
(5) T. 1442, 657c5-6.
(6) BT III, 11. 291-297.
(7) Herewith I thank Dr. ]ens Wilkens for providing me with this informa-
tion.
(8) Hertel 1970, p. 95.
(9) Hertel 1970, p. 57.
(10) Hertel 1970, p. 127.
(11) Willemen 1999, p. 60.
(12) Zieme 1988.
(13) Zieme 1988.
(14) BT III, 11. 620-721.
(15) Zieme 1991, p. 72.
(16) BT III, 696-700.
(17) In the strict sense of Buddhist terminology this is not a sutra, but a
siistra.
(18) T. 1558 (Vol. 29), p. 146bll-12.
(19) La Vallee Poussin V, 144. In his note 2 La Vallee Poussin gives some
references to the origin of this saying.
(20) But not in La Vallee Poussin's translation where the sequence is:
maladie-ulcere-fleche.
(21) The second half has a variant in T (Vol. 29) 1563, p. 964c29 ~~!l111~Hm
y.jf,{IJ.o ~~AJ::!:Iflll.ftll!¥1.
(22) La Vallee Poussin, p. 144.
(23) Rohrborn 1985.
(24) Rohrborn 1985, p. 97.
(25) Shogaito 2004.
(26) Omitted character!
(27) T. 213, p. 785c10-12.
(28) Bernhard I, p. 234.
(29) See variants in Bernhard I, p. 234.
(30) Translated from the Pali by Acharya Buddharakkhita.
(31) Burlingame, vol. 1, p. 108.
(32) T. 1909, Vol. 45, p. 933a9-11.

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 On some quotations in the Uighur Insadi-sutra

(33) Mentioned by Shioiri 1977, p. 512, but missing in his list on p. 520.
(34) Cf. Elverskog, pp. 87-89.
(35) Cf. Wilkens 2003.
(36) Shogaito 2003 (the fragments are parallel to p. 928b 24-27, p. 928c 17-
22, p. 929a 28-b4, p. 931c 13-18, p. 932a 5-8, p. 932a 12-16, p. 932a16-20, p.
948a 17-23, p. 949c 6-11).
(37) Rohrborn 1985, p. 97.
(38) But this is not clear, these final letters only slightly differ in the manu-
script.
(39) Although in other cases this is not so!
(40) Rohrborn 1985, p. 96. This is phonetically impossible, cf. Zieme 1991, p.
70, n. 180.
(41) This verb is not used in T. 213.
(42) Phonetically this word cannot be the origin of the Uighur transcript.
(43) Cf. Zieme 1991, p. 71, n. 182.
(44) I.e. the concluding part, 11. 750-756.
(45) T. 1428, 758c8-12 I I 1050a26-bl. Already in 1985 identified by Mr. Uno
Motoharu to whom I express here my thanks.
(46) The interpunction marks are very important for a full understanding of
the text.
(47) The name appears also in its transcribed form Cisim, cf. BT III, 11. 23-
26, 1. 758. Cf. Zieme 1991, pp. 294, 315.
(48) Cf. Zieme 1991, p. 316, where the first character was read * xue "to
learn".
(49) Geng 2002, pp. 79-80.

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