Survey of the Pāli Milindapañha Manuscripts kept at the National Library of Thailand
A Brief Catalogue
Abstract
Several catalogues of Pāli palm-leaf manuscript collections, preserved at the National Library of Thailand, have been published. These catalogues, however, are mere lists of titles and they do not record the number of physical manuscripts under each title. For instance, the Milindapañha (Questions of King Milinda) appears as a single entry in these catalogues, but, in fact, the library holds seventy copies. These seventy manuscripts, though not all are complete, are not necessarily direct copies of each other or of a single original exemplar: they are, rather, distinct recensions that were copied in different periods of Thai history. Therefore, they serve as a valuable repository for the study of the text’s diverse textual traditions to elucidate the background of its transmission. Moreover, there are other related works, like the Milindapañha-ṭīkā, the Milindapañha Saṅkhepa, and the Milindapañhagāthā, which is embedded in the Vaṃsamālinī. The last two are yet to be found outside Thailand. Thus, this short article aims to present a concise listing of them in the hope that they will facilitate further research into these texts.
References
Primary Texts:
Bv Buddhavaṃsa, ed. N.A. Jayawickrama. 1974. London: The Pali Text Society.
D Dīghanikāya, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids, J.E. Carpenter. 1890–1911. London: The Pali Text Society.
Dhp-a Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā Vol I, ed. H.C. Norman. 1970 [1906]. London: The Pali Text Society.
Ja The Jātaka together with its commentary Vol I–VI, ed. V. Faüsbøll. 1877–96. London: Messrs. Luzac & Company for the Pali Text Society.
M Majjhimanikāya Vol I, ed. V. Trenckner. 1979 [1888]. London: The Pali Text Society.
Mil Milindapañho, ed. V. Trenckner. 1880. Edinburgh: William and Norgate / London: the Pali Text Society.
Paṭis Paṭisambhidāmagga, ed. A.C. Taylor. 1905–07. London: The Pali Text Society.
S Saṃyuttanikāya, ed. L. Feer. 1888. London: The Pali Text Society.
Si Milindapañhā, ed. Cattasalla Thera et al. 1923. Bangkok: Mahāmakuṭarājavidyālaya. [มิลินฺทปญฺหา. จตฺตสลฺลเถเรน ธมฺมปาโมกฺเขน มกุฏขตฺติยารามวาสินา โสธิตา. สฺยามรฏฺฐสฺส ราชธานิยํ: มหามกุฏราชวิทฺยาลเยน, ๒๔๖๖.]
Sp Samantapāsādikā: Buddhaghosa’s Commentary on the Vinaya Piṭaka IV, ed. J. Takakusu and M. Nagai. 1934. London: The Pali Text Society.
Vism Visuddhimagga, ed. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. 1920–21. London: The Pali Text Society.
Secondary literature:
Appleton, Naomi and Sarah Shaw, transl. 2015. The Ten Great Birth Stories of the Buddha – The Mahānipāta of the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā Vol. Two. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
Coedès, George. 1924. The Vajirañāṇa National Library. Bangkok: Bangkok Times.
Geiger, Wilhelm. 1916. A Pāḷi Grammar. Translated into English by Batakrishna Ghosh, 1943. Revised and edited by K.R. Norman, 1994, Reprinted 2015. Bristol: The Pali Text Society.
von Hinüber, Oskar. 1996. A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter.
von Hinüber, Oskar. 1987. “The Pāli Manuscripts Kept at the Siam Society, Bangkok: A Short Catalogue.” Journal of the Siam Society, 75: 9–74
von Hinüber, Oskar. 2013. Die Pali-Handschriften des Klosters Lai Hin bei Lampang in Nord-Thailand. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Hundius, Harald. 1990. “The Colophons of 30 Pāli manuscripts from Northern Thailand.” Journal of the Pali Text Society XIV: 1–173.
Iijima, Akiko. 2005. “A Historical Approach to the Palm-Leaf Manuscripts Preserved in Wat Mahathat, Yasothon (Thailand).” In The Literary Heritage of Laos Preservation, Dissemination and Research Perspectives, eds. Kongdeuane Nettavong, Harald Hundius, Dara Kanlaya, David Wharton, Khanthamaly Yongnouvong. Vientiane: National Library of Laos: 341–357.
Jacob, M. Judith. 1996. The Traditional Literature of Cambodia: A Preliminary Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kongkeow Wiraprachak and Wirat Unnatharawarangkun, eds. 1984. The Royal Edition Manuscripts of the Rattanokosin Period. Bangkok: National Library, Fine Arts Department on the occasion of celebrating the 700th anniversary of Thai script. [นางสาวก่องแก้ว วีระประจักษ์, นายวิรัตน์ อุนนาทรวรางกูร เรียบเรียง. คัมภีร์ใบลานฉบับหลวงในสมัยรัตนโกสินทร์. กองหอสมุดแห่งชาติ กรมศิลปากร จัดพิมพ์เนื่องในโอกาสฉลองครบรอบ ๗๐๐ ปีลายสือไทย พุทธศักราช ๒๕๒๗.]
McDaniel, Justin. 2009. “Two Buddhist Libraries – The proximate mechanisms of Northern Thai Buddhist history.” In Buddhist Manuscript Culture: Knowledge, ritual and art. eds. S.C. Berkwitz, J. Schober and C. Brown, 124–137. London and New York: Routledge.
Mizuno, Kogen. 1959, “ミリンダ問経類について (On the Recensions of the Milindapañha).” In Komazawa Daigaku kenkyu kiyo 17: 17–55.
National Library of Thailand. 2004. Ancient Scripts – Student and Graduate Student edition. Bangkok: The National Library Division, The Fine Arts Department [แบบอักษรโบราณ ฉบับนักเรียน นักศึกษา สำนักหอสมุดแห่งชาติ กรมศิลปากร พิมพ์เผยแพร่ พุทธศักราข ๒๕๔๗].
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, transl. 1975 (4th edition, 2010). The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) by Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa. Colombo: Buddhist Publication Society.
Nedis Rucirarucana. 1989. An Analytical Study of the Vaṃsamālinī. Dissertation (in Thai) submitted to Chulalongkorn University for a MA degree, Bangkok.
Nyunt, Peter. 2014. A Descriptive Catalogue of Burmese Manuscripts in the Fragile Palm Leaves Collection, Vol. 1 and 2. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Oum-Sau. 1926. Milindapañhā, Traduit du Pali en Cambodgien par Prés Krou Vimalapaññā [in Khmer]. Phnom Penh: Imprimerie du Gouvernement.
Pain, Frédéric. 2019. “‘Brāhmaṇa” as an honorific in ‘Indianized’ mainland Southeast Asia: a linguistic approach.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 82, Iss. 1: 111–141.
Pischel, Richard. 1900. A Grammar of the Prākrit Languages. Transl. from German by Subhadra Jhā. Second Revised Edition 1981. Reprint 1999. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Pou-Lewitz. 1975. “VII. Inscriptions modernes d’Angkor 34 et 38.” In Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, 62: 283–353.
Santi Pakdeekham, transliterated and ed. 2020. History of the Pali Scriptures: Saṅgītiyaṃsa by Somdet Phra Phonnarat, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, Volume 16. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
The Siam National Library. 1926. “Libraries and Library Work in Siam; Origin of the National Library.” Bulletin of the American Library Association, 20 (10), Papers and Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the American Library Association, October, 1926: 264–269.
Skilling, Peter. 2009a. “The Place of South-East Asia in Buddhist Studies.” In Buddhism and Buddhist Literature of South-East Asia, Selected Papers, ed. C. Cicuzza, 46–68. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter. 2009b. “The Advent of Theravada Buddhism to Mainland South-East Asia.” In Buddhism and Buddhist Literature of South-East Asia, Selected Papers, ed. C. Cicuzza, 104–119. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter. 2010. “Problems with Milinda (I): The Opening Verses and Prose of the Printed Siamese Milindapañhā.” Journal of Buddhist Studies (Journal of Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka), VIII: 1–24.
Skilling, Peter. 2012. “King Rāma I and Wat Phra Chetuphon: the Buddha: Śāsanā in Early Bangkok.” In How Theravāda is Theravāda? Exploring Buddhist Identities, eds. P. Skilling, J.A. Carbine, C. Circuzza, S. Pakdeekham, 297–349. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
Skilling, Peter. 2014. “Reflections on the Pali Literature of Siam.” In From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research, eds. Paul Harrison and Jens-Uwe Hartmann. Papers Presented at the Conference Indic Buddhist Manuscripts. The State of the Field, Stanford, 15–19 June 2009, 347–366. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Skilling, Peter. 2021. Questioning the Buddha, A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras. Somerville: Wisdom Publications.
Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham. 2002. Pāli Literature Transmitted in Central Siam, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, Volume 1. Bangkok: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation & Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham, 2004. Pāli and Vernacular Literature Transmitted in Central and Northern Siam, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, Volume 2. Bangkok: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham. 2017. “Manuscripts in Central Thailand: Samut Khoi from Phetchaburi Province.” Manuscript Studies 2(1): 125–150.
Suwakhon Siriwongworawat, ed. 2000. The National Library of Thailand. Bangkok: The National Library of Thailand and the Ministry of Education.
Terwiel, B.J. 1981. “Tai Peoples and the Computation of Time, a Comparative Perspective.” Oriens Extremus, 28 (1): 62–106.
Thich Minh Chau. 1964. Milindapañha and Nāgasenabhikshusūtra: A Comparative Study. (Through Pāḷi and Chinese sources). Calcutta: Firma KL Mukhopadhyay.
Trenckner, V. ed. 1880. The Milindapañho. Being dialogues between King Milinda and the Buddhist sage Nāgasena. Edinburgh: William and Norgate / The Pali Text Society.
Tripāṭhī, C., ed. 1962. “Fünfundzwanzig Sūtras des Nidānasaṃyukta.” In Sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden 8 (The Bhūta Sūtra). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
Vickery, Michael. 1991. “On Traibhūmikathā.” Journal of the Siam Society 79: 24–36.
Wat Muang Folk Museum. 1993. The Mae Klong Basin: Socio-cultural Development: in Honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on the Occasion of Her Fifth Cycle Birthday, August 12, 1992. Bangkok: Silpakorn University. [ลุ่มน้ำแม่กลอง: พัฒนาการทางสังคมและวัฒนธรรม. พิพิธภัณฑ์พื้นบ้านวัดม่วง].
Wisut Busayakun. 2004. “Calendars and Eras used in Thailand [วิสุทธ์ บุษยกุล. ปฏิทินและศักราชที่ใช้ในประเทศไทย].” The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand, 29 (2): 468–478.
Bv Buddhavaṃsa, ed. N.A. Jayawickrama. 1974. London: The Pali Text Society.
D Dīghanikāya, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids, J.E. Carpenter. 1890–1911. London: The Pali Text Society.
Dhp-a Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā Vol I, ed. H.C. Norman. 1970 [1906]. London: The Pali Text Society.
Ja The Jātaka together with its commentary Vol I–VI, ed. V. Faüsbøll. 1877–96. London: Messrs. Luzac & Company for the Pali Text Society.
M Majjhimanikāya Vol I, ed. V. Trenckner. 1979 [1888]. London: The Pali Text Society.
Mil Milindapañho, ed. V. Trenckner. 1880. Edinburgh: William and Norgate / London: the Pali Text Society.
Paṭis Paṭisambhidāmagga, ed. A.C. Taylor. 1905–07. London: The Pali Text Society.
S Saṃyuttanikāya, ed. L. Feer. 1888. London: The Pali Text Society.
Si Milindapañhā, ed. Cattasalla Thera et al. 1923. Bangkok: Mahāmakuṭarājavidyālaya. [มิลินฺทปญฺหา. จตฺตสลฺลเถเรน ธมฺมปาโมกฺเขน มกุฏขตฺติยารามวาสินา โสธิตา. สฺยามรฏฺฐสฺส ราชธานิยํ: มหามกุฏราชวิทฺยาลเยน, ๒๔๖๖.]
Sp Samantapāsādikā: Buddhaghosa’s Commentary on the Vinaya Piṭaka IV, ed. J. Takakusu and M. Nagai. 1934. London: The Pali Text Society.
Vism Visuddhimagga, ed. C.A.F. Rhys Davids. 1920–21. London: The Pali Text Society.
Secondary literature:
Appleton, Naomi and Sarah Shaw, transl. 2015. The Ten Great Birth Stories of the Buddha – The Mahānipāta of the Jātakatthavaṇṇanā Vol. Two. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
Coedès, George. 1924. The Vajirañāṇa National Library. Bangkok: Bangkok Times.
Geiger, Wilhelm. 1916. A Pāḷi Grammar. Translated into English by Batakrishna Ghosh, 1943. Revised and edited by K.R. Norman, 1994, Reprinted 2015. Bristol: The Pali Text Society.
von Hinüber, Oskar. 1996. A Handbook of Pāli Literature. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter.
von Hinüber, Oskar. 1987. “The Pāli Manuscripts Kept at the Siam Society, Bangkok: A Short Catalogue.” Journal of the Siam Society, 75: 9–74
von Hinüber, Oskar. 2013. Die Pali-Handschriften des Klosters Lai Hin bei Lampang in Nord-Thailand. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
Hundius, Harald. 1990. “The Colophons of 30 Pāli manuscripts from Northern Thailand.” Journal of the Pali Text Society XIV: 1–173.
Iijima, Akiko. 2005. “A Historical Approach to the Palm-Leaf Manuscripts Preserved in Wat Mahathat, Yasothon (Thailand).” In The Literary Heritage of Laos Preservation, Dissemination and Research Perspectives, eds. Kongdeuane Nettavong, Harald Hundius, Dara Kanlaya, David Wharton, Khanthamaly Yongnouvong. Vientiane: National Library of Laos: 341–357.
Jacob, M. Judith. 1996. The Traditional Literature of Cambodia: A Preliminary Guide. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kongkeow Wiraprachak and Wirat Unnatharawarangkun, eds. 1984. The Royal Edition Manuscripts of the Rattanokosin Period. Bangkok: National Library, Fine Arts Department on the occasion of celebrating the 700th anniversary of Thai script. [นางสาวก่องแก้ว วีระประจักษ์, นายวิรัตน์ อุนนาทรวรางกูร เรียบเรียง. คัมภีร์ใบลานฉบับหลวงในสมัยรัตนโกสินทร์. กองหอสมุดแห่งชาติ กรมศิลปากร จัดพิมพ์เนื่องในโอกาสฉลองครบรอบ ๗๐๐ ปีลายสือไทย พุทธศักราช ๒๕๒๗.]
McDaniel, Justin. 2009. “Two Buddhist Libraries – The proximate mechanisms of Northern Thai Buddhist history.” In Buddhist Manuscript Culture: Knowledge, ritual and art. eds. S.C. Berkwitz, J. Schober and C. Brown, 124–137. London and New York: Routledge.
Mizuno, Kogen. 1959, “ミリンダ問経類について (On the Recensions of the Milindapañha).” In Komazawa Daigaku kenkyu kiyo 17: 17–55.
National Library of Thailand. 2004. Ancient Scripts – Student and Graduate Student edition. Bangkok: The National Library Division, The Fine Arts Department [แบบอักษรโบราณ ฉบับนักเรียน นักศึกษา สำนักหอสมุดแห่งชาติ กรมศิลปากร พิมพ์เผยแพร่ พุทธศักราข ๒๕๔๗].
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, transl. 1975 (4th edition, 2010). The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) by Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa. Colombo: Buddhist Publication Society.
Nedis Rucirarucana. 1989. An Analytical Study of the Vaṃsamālinī. Dissertation (in Thai) submitted to Chulalongkorn University for a MA degree, Bangkok.
Nyunt, Peter. 2014. A Descriptive Catalogue of Burmese Manuscripts in the Fragile Palm Leaves Collection, Vol. 1 and 2. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Oum-Sau. 1926. Milindapañhā, Traduit du Pali en Cambodgien par Prés Krou Vimalapaññā [in Khmer]. Phnom Penh: Imprimerie du Gouvernement.
Pain, Frédéric. 2019. “‘Brāhmaṇa” as an honorific in ‘Indianized’ mainland Southeast Asia: a linguistic approach.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 82, Iss. 1: 111–141.
Pischel, Richard. 1900. A Grammar of the Prākrit Languages. Transl. from German by Subhadra Jhā. Second Revised Edition 1981. Reprint 1999. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Pou-Lewitz. 1975. “VII. Inscriptions modernes d’Angkor 34 et 38.” In Bulletin de l’Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, 62: 283–353.
Santi Pakdeekham, transliterated and ed. 2020. History of the Pali Scriptures: Saṅgītiyaṃsa by Somdet Phra Phonnarat, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, Volume 16. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
The Siam National Library. 1926. “Libraries and Library Work in Siam; Origin of the National Library.” Bulletin of the American Library Association, 20 (10), Papers and Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Meeting of the American Library Association, October, 1926: 264–269.
Skilling, Peter. 2009a. “The Place of South-East Asia in Buddhist Studies.” In Buddhism and Buddhist Literature of South-East Asia, Selected Papers, ed. C. Cicuzza, 46–68. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter. 2009b. “The Advent of Theravada Buddhism to Mainland South-East Asia.” In Buddhism and Buddhist Literature of South-East Asia, Selected Papers, ed. C. Cicuzza, 104–119. Bangkok and Lumbini: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter. 2010. “Problems with Milinda (I): The Opening Verses and Prose of the Printed Siamese Milindapañhā.” Journal of Buddhist Studies (Journal of Centre for Buddhist Studies, Sri Lanka), VIII: 1–24.
Skilling, Peter. 2012. “King Rāma I and Wat Phra Chetuphon: the Buddha: Śāsanā in Early Bangkok.” In How Theravāda is Theravāda? Exploring Buddhist Identities, eds. P. Skilling, J.A. Carbine, C. Circuzza, S. Pakdeekham, 297–349. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
Skilling, Peter. 2014. “Reflections on the Pali Literature of Siam.” In From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research, eds. Paul Harrison and Jens-Uwe Hartmann. Papers Presented at the Conference Indic Buddhist Manuscripts. The State of the Field, Stanford, 15–19 June 2009, 347–366. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Skilling, Peter. 2021. Questioning the Buddha, A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras. Somerville: Wisdom Publications.
Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham. 2002. Pāli Literature Transmitted in Central Siam, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, Volume 1. Bangkok: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation & Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham, 2004. Pāli and Vernacular Literature Transmitted in Central and Northern Siam, Materials for the Study of the Tripiṭaka, Volume 2. Bangkok: Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation and Lumbini International Research Institute.
Skilling, Peter and Santi Pakdeekham. 2017. “Manuscripts in Central Thailand: Samut Khoi from Phetchaburi Province.” Manuscript Studies 2(1): 125–150.
Suwakhon Siriwongworawat, ed. 2000. The National Library of Thailand. Bangkok: The National Library of Thailand and the Ministry of Education.
Terwiel, B.J. 1981. “Tai Peoples and the Computation of Time, a Comparative Perspective.” Oriens Extremus, 28 (1): 62–106.
Thich Minh Chau. 1964. Milindapañha and Nāgasenabhikshusūtra: A Comparative Study. (Through Pāḷi and Chinese sources). Calcutta: Firma KL Mukhopadhyay.
Trenckner, V. ed. 1880. The Milindapañho. Being dialogues between King Milinda and the Buddhist sage Nāgasena. Edinburgh: William and Norgate / The Pali Text Society.
Tripāṭhī, C., ed. 1962. “Fünfundzwanzig Sūtras des Nidānasaṃyukta.” In Sanskrittexte aus den Turfanfunden 8 (The Bhūta Sūtra). Berlin: Akademie-Verlag.
Vickery, Michael. 1991. “On Traibhūmikathā.” Journal of the Siam Society 79: 24–36.
Wat Muang Folk Museum. 1993. The Mae Klong Basin: Socio-cultural Development: in Honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit on the Occasion of Her Fifth Cycle Birthday, August 12, 1992. Bangkok: Silpakorn University. [ลุ่มน้ำแม่กลอง: พัฒนาการทางสังคมและวัฒนธรรม. พิพิธภัณฑ์พื้นบ้านวัดม่วง].
Wisut Busayakun. 2004. “Calendars and Eras used in Thailand [วิสุทธ์ บุษยกุล. ปฏิทินและศักราชที่ใช้ในประเทศไทย].” The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand, 29 (2): 468–478.
