Exploring the Unexplored Siam Pāli Texts: Buddhābhiseka (พุทธาภิเสก), its Textual Features, Versions and Bitexts

15. Dezember 2021

Dr. Samantha Rajapaksha, Lecturer and Faculty Member, Department of Humanities, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Mahidol University (Bangkok, Thailand)

15.  Dezember 2021, 17:15 - 18:45 Uhr 

Siam Pāli texts largely remain unexplored, uncatalogued and unedited, while edited Pāli texts have hardly consulted the Siam Pāli textual tradition. The Buddhābhiseka is one such text which is transmitted in Southeast Asian Pāli literature. The text is used as a chanting text at the Buddha image consecration ceremony. Even though its ritual aspect has been widely discussed, its textual features and manuscript traditions have been less studied. Despite the fact that the name is used so ubiquitously the text in manuscripts is extremely variable. Though the Thai script edition and its corresponding manuscript tradition are identified as the standard Buddhābhiseka there are some other recensions of Buddhābhiseka which vary greatly. The Buddhābhiseka has Indic-vernacular literature such as Pāli-Khmer (ภาษาบาลีและขอม) and Pāli-Lannā (ภาษาบาลีและล้านนา) apart from its Pāli monolingual textual traditions. It also has some secondary literature in modern Thai language (ภาษาไทย). The copyist(s) of the Buddhābhiseka Pāli textual tradition may have intervened in the critical-editing of the text to some degree, such as paraphrasing some original citations, redacting textual material and adopting repetitive passages. This lecture explores the textual diversity of Buddhābhiseka by looking at its rich textual tradition handed down in various ancient and modern scripts.

Samantha Rajapaksha earned his Ph.D in Pāli language, University of Peradeniya (2016) and B.A. degree majoring Pāli language, University of Peradeniya (2004). He has expertise and skill in Theravada Pāli manuscript traditions, Pāli textual criticism and Pāli primary texts and their classical commentaries. One of his recently published academic papers argues that Tham Lan Nā manuscript recension for Rasavāhinī is older than all extant Theravada manuscript traditions. He also reconstructed one of the recensions transmitted for Buddhābhiseka.

Veranstalter: Numata Zentrum für Buddhismuskunde