Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org

Early Discourses and Verse

Early Gandhari Buddhist discourses, verse collections, and Dharmapada witnesses from northwestern manuscript traditions.

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Texts

Rhinoceros SutraThe Rhinoceros Sutra in Gandhari Prakrit — the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscript, translated for the first time into free English.Songs of Lake AnavataptaThe Songs of Lake Anavatapta in Gandhari Prakrit — personal testimonies of Buddhist elders, from the oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts.The Arapacana Poem — BC 5An alphabetical meditation poem in praise of the Buddha, composed in Gandhāri Prakrit in the Śārdūlavikrīḍita meter. Each of the 42 stanzas begins with a successive letter of the Arapacana alphabet — a syllabary that generated an entire writing system across Buddhist Asia. From the Bajaur Collection of Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts, dating to the 1st–2nd century CE. The oldest known Arapacana acrostic poem.The Cow-Horn DiscourseThe Cow-Horn Discourse in Gandhāri Prakrit — three monks living in perfect harmony at Gosiṅga, practicing the jhānas and formless attainments together. The gods rejoice at their concord. From Senior Collection scroll 12, 2nd century CE.The DharmapadaThe oldest surviving Buddhist manuscript — a collection of verses in Gandhāri Prakrit from the 1st–2nd century CE, translated into English for the first time. 189 extant verses across 22 chapters.The Discourse on Non-SelfThe Buddha's second sermon — the Discourse on the Characteristic of Non-Self in Gandhāri Prakrit. The five aggregates are not-self; what is impermanent is suffering; through disenchantment comes liberation. From Senior Collection scroll 22, 2nd century CE.The Goṣiṅga-sutra — Gandhari VersionThe Gandhari Goṣiṅga-sutra — a fragmentary Buddhist discourse on three monks dwelling in harmony, attaining the four absorptions and the destruction of the taints. First-ever English translation from Gandhari Prakrit.The Split Collection DharmapadaA third Gandhāri Dharmapada — 90 verses of Buddhist wisdom poetry on a single sheet of birch bark, dating to the 1st–2nd century CE. Distinct from both the Khotan Dharmapada (Brough 1962) and the British Library Dharmapada. From the Split Collection of Kharoṣṭhī manuscripts, Bajaur region. First free English translation.