Gandharan Avadanas — BL Fragments 2, 3, and 21

British Library Fragments 2, 3, 21, and Supplementary Fragments A-C

Further edifying stories and previous-birth narratives preserved on birch bark in Kharoṣṭhī script, from the first-century CE Gandhāri Prakrit manuscripts of the British Library Collection. Fragment 2 continues the avadāna series of Fragment 1, preserving tales of the Five Indriyas and a story told to the Buddha at Puṣkalāvatī. Fragment 3 contains the Pūrvayoga of Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya — a previous-birth story of the first of the Buddha's five original disciples — along with a nidāna set in the Jetavana monastery. Fragment 21 preserves a story concerning the longevity of the good Dharma after the Buddha enters parinirvāṇa. Supplementary Fragments A-C are small pieces from the beginning of another avadāna scroll, mentioning a great king. All are severely fragmentary. Edited by Timothy Lenz in Gandhāran Buddhist Texts 6 (2010).

Gospel Reading

Fragment 2

Avadānas 1-4

The first four avadānas on Fragment 2 are no longer extant. The birch bark that carried them has been lost entirely.

Avadāna 5: The Police and the Great Satrap

Thus the tradition. The beginning of this avadāna is the ending of the scroll of Fragment 1. Police were seen. Then the Great Satrap Jhoṇiga — a man in Gandhāra — was transported widely.

The avadāna of Jhoṇiga. Avadāna five.

Avadāna 6: The King of Takṣaśilā

Thus it is told. The King of Takṣaśilā...

This avadāna concerns a king of Takṣaśilā, but it comprises little more than a single line of text. The story has been almost entirely lost.

Avadāna 7

...a mātraga...

This fragment preserves only the word mātraga, a figure whose identity — whether a personal name, a title, or something else — cannot be determined. An interlinear notation reads: "Now all the avadānas are written," indicating the scribe recognized the completion of a set of texts.

The hill was prepared. A mountain festival.

Avadāna 8: The Example of the Five Indriyas

The example of the five powerful men. They asked each other: "Today, how many..."

"Could it be that this place is infested with thieves?"

One said: "I too..." One man after another spoke. "I said I will protect..." said one. "I will strike a blow," said another. The fourth said: "I will punish with a lash of one hundred thousand."

Power of Protection. Power of Vigor. Power of Mindfulness. Power of Concentration. Power of Punishment.

Here is an allegory concerning five indriyas, or faculties, personified as five powerful men. Each of the five indriyas is a well-attested grouping in Buddhist doctrine. An unnamed Indriya said: "Who is there?" Power of Protection was said by palāḍirago. Power of Vigor was said by virīḍirago. And a third said: "I will punish with a lash," and this was dauḍirago, Power of Punishment.

The indriyas in this Gandhāri tale each personify a separate ideal — concept or power — and the five terms upon which the characters are based share one common element: vīryasaṃvara. The story is not complete enough to reveal which power is the strongest, or even whether this really is its point. The title corresponds to the Gandhāri dṛṣṭānta, "example," and is structurally parallel to the genre of Dṛṣṭāntapaṅkti, "Series of Examples."

Avadāna 9: The Puṣkalāvatī Avadāna

Puṣkalāvatī said to the Buddha. He protected. Of me... Then he died. Agony and sorrow... Of him, two... He went...

Lines 20-26 are too fragmentary to reveal their content with certainty. What can be determined is that only one story is partially preserved here. Line 20 almost certainly belongs to a separate avadāna that would have followed the tale of the five indriyas. Puṣkalāvatī is a toponym — the name of the ancient capital of Gandhāra, modern Charsadda in Pakistan.

The monk said: "Maitreya has come." He protected. Then he died. The yavi departed. Vedanādukhaṃ arose — agony and sorrow. But this is conjectural, and the context is too broken to be certain of the narrative.

He went to the battled ground. Someone went. Someone said.

Fragment 3

Fragment 3A, Avadāna 1

In the city, there was a householder. The great king then went to... a plank... He went to insight and knowledge. The Dharma was grabbed by the hand. Everything should be told.

Fragment 3A, Avadāna 2 — The Pūrvayoga of Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya

Thus. This is told. From that avadāna. Thus it was heard. Of Jayasena Bodhisattva. Thus the river. The protected rākṣasa... by truthful words, who is frightened?

This is the avadāna of Jayasena — the Pūrvayoga, or "previous-birth story," of Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya, the very first of the Buddha's five original companions. In the Chinese version of the story preserved in the Mahāvastu, Jayasena appears as an upāsaka named Śreyaṃsa, a kṣatriya of western India who favored a moderate and simple life. He wandered the mountains and forests, dwelling in a sort of fairyland, while his mind wandered amid the limits of the highest truth.

A certain pratyekabuddha came. A rain-retreat residence was given to him. Then that potter said: "If you come to me for the whole time, then I will have a hut built for you."

And for the whole three months, the potter... by him... regretful... by which his unwanted condition was destroyed. Then sandalwood came...

The potter cared for a pratyekabuddha during the rains retreat and built him a shelter. But then the pratyekabuddha died under his care, and the potter was filled with regret — not for a past transgression, but for a missed opportunity: the chance for the potter to learn from the pratyekabuddha rather than merely to house him. His sadness was transformed, and five hundred pratyekabuddhas bearing sandalwood sticks came by way of the sky.

Fragment 3K Verso

Fragment 3K is a tiny piece — approximately 2.2 by 1.8 centimeters — preserving only traces of one line on the recto and one on the verso. Its relationship to the other fragments is uncertain.

Fragment 3L Verso — The Nidāna at the Jetavana

He stayed in... at the Jetavana monastery... in the park. All... the Dharma... not self... arhat...

This is a nidāna — a framing narrative telling where the Buddha was residing. The Buddha was at the Jetavana monastery in Anāthapiṇḍada's park. The text mentions the Dharma, the doctrine of anātman (non-self), and an arhat. Nidānas of this type — similar to those seen in vinaya and sūtra texts in Pali and Sanskrit — are generally not found in Gandhāri avadāna-type texts, appearing only here and in the sole avadāna on Fragment 21. This suggests that these texts may have been drawn directly from a sūtra or vinaya source.

Tranquility...

Fragment 21

Fragment 21 Recto — The Longevity of the Good Dharma

The recto of Fragment 21 is very poorly preserved. Big Hand's ten lines of text contain only a few legible syllables. But the verso is better preserved, and the nidāna can be reconstructed on the basis of a nearly identical passage in Pali:

Evaṃ me sutaṃ. Ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā sāvatthīyaṃ viharati jetavane anāthapiṇḍikassa ārāme.

"Thus I have heard. At one time the Blessed One was staying at Sāvatthī, in the Jetavana, the park of Anāthapiṇḍika."

Once, at one time, the Blessed One was with his bhikkhus. The Blessed One was in the Jetavana. He spoke.

The story concerned the longevity of the good Dharma — saddharma. The phrase dha[r]ma thidaga in line 9 furnishes the clue: a similar expression occurs in Asoka's Calcutta-Bairāt rock inscription, where saddharmaṃ ciraṭṭhitiko hotu means: "May the good law remain for a long time."

The monk said: "The true law has disappeared." Zadamīra said: "If the true law had disappeared, I would have attained individual enlightenment."

"What is to be done?" The Śaka said. "Then... the noble law... disappeared. The noble law is obtained..."

What, venerable Ānanda, is the cause, what is the reason by which the good law does not endure after the Buddha enters parinirvāṇa?

This story concerned predictions about how long the good Dharma would last after the Buddha's passing — a question that preoccupied Buddhist communities throughout their history. The earliest predictions were relatively short, giving the good law a life of five hundred years. But as the Buddha's death receded into the past and Buddhism spread, predictions grew progressively longer — to 1,000, then 1,500, then 2,000, 2,500, 3,000, 5,000, 11,500, and 12,000 years.

Fragment 21 Verso

Fragment 21 verso is too poorly preserved to attempt a translation. Only a handful of individual words can be discerned. These do, however, allow the beginning of the text and the general theme of the original story to be reconstructed. The text appears to contain a nidāna — a framing narrative identifying the setting — and what follows may concern the relationship between avadānas and pūrvayogas in the context of the longevity of the Dharma.

Supplementary Fragments A-C

The Great King

These are written... Then... merit... great king...

These are written... was said to the king...

The Supplementary Fragments are twenty-six small pieces of birch bark that were transmitted as a group. Fragments A, B, and C were written by Big Hand, the same scribe responsible for the avadānas on Fragments 1, 2, and 3. They appear to come from the beginning of an avadāna scroll — the word ithidaga ("these are written"), a formula used near the beginning of avadāna texts, occurs on both Fragment A and Fragment B.

The text is too fragmentary to discern content beyond the fact that an unnamed great king (mahārava) is central to the narrative. A word meaning "merit" (puḍa) and a word meaning "noble being" (mahā[tv]e) also survive. The scribe crossed out a portion of his text on Fragment B, indicating he made a mistake while writing and corrected it on the spot.

Fragment C preserves only a few syllables on each side: u[lg]e on the recto, and ruvano matr[do] — possibly "noble monk" — on the verso.

Scholarly Translation

Fragment 2: Transcribed Text and Translation

Recto (pl. 20)

  1. paṣide praṣyadel ya[v]i ///
  2. ra jihoṇige mahakṣatrasa///[*o]*
  3. *riadi manuśia pradi ? ///
  4. araṣṭriśta kṣa ? ///
  5. gadharami o ? ///
  6. ve[tra]geṇa bahadi kḷ[e][t][..] ///
  7. o 5 takṣailara[ya] ///
  8. vadi[a] o 6 maṣrago .a ///
    8a. (ṣarva ime avadana a ?)
  9. girge avajadi ///
  10. o pacame idi̱gano dṛḷṭhiḍae ḷ ///
  11. se uṭamāṃda pruchadi aca kada ? ///
  12. kici coraṣamagulẹ sṿadi ///
  13. eke matr[e]di aho pi ka ///

Verso

  1. eke puraso eke pal[rha[se] maḷi[*tredi]*
  2. matredi aho · palaśa ? ? ///
  3. dro praharo dada[śe] cadatho ? ///
  4. aho lakso dadila o̱ ya ? ///
  5. palaiḍrago viriḍrigo spave[dr.] ///
  6. spuaḍ[aḍiroge dadaḍrige] ///
  7. pokhaladi[·] puḍi ? + + ///
  8. ? matredi budha*ṣa[·] cs ? ///
  9. no paldi[o]· mame ? ///
  10. yavi kalagoṭ*do ///
  11. [o] vedanadukhaṃrvasu ///
  12. no mo tasa dafe[̣e ? ///
  13. /// no vaci[do] ? ///

Avadānas 1-4 (pl. 20): These avadānas are no longer extant.

Avadāna 5 (pl. 20, lines 1-7):

  1. paṣide praṣyadel ya[v]i ///
  2. ra jihoṇige mahakṣatrasa///[*o]*
  3. riadi manuśia pradi ? ///
  4. araṣṭriśta kṣa ? ///
  5. gadharami o ? ///
  6. ve[tra]geṇa bahadi kḷ[e][t][..] ///
  7. o 5 takṣailara[ya] ///

[1] ... police seen. ... Then ... [2] ... Great Satrap Jhoṇiga. ... [3] ... a man ... [4-5] in Gandhāra ... [6] was transported widely. ... [7] (*Avadāna) 5.

Avadāna 6 (pl. 20, line 7):

  1. ... takṣailara[ya] ///
  2. vadi[a] o 6 maṣrago .a ///

[7] (*Avadāna) 5. The king of Takṣaśilā. ... [8] ... is told. (*Avadāna) 6. A mātraga. ...

Avadāna 7 (pl. 20, lines 8-9):

  1. vadi[a] o 6 maṣrago .a ///
    8a. (ṣarva ime avadana a ?)
  2. girge avajadi ///

[8] ... is told. (*Avadāna) 6. A mātraga. ... [8a] (Now all the avadānas are written) [9] ... was prepared on a hill.

Avadāna 8 (pls. 20-21, lines 10-19):

  1. o pacame idi̱gano dṛḷṭhiḍae ḷ ///
  2. se uṭamāṃda pruchadi aca kada ? ///
  3. kici coraṣamagulẹ sṿadi ///
  4. eke matr[e]di aho pi ka ///
  5. eke puraso eke pal[rha[se] maḷi[*tredi]*
  6. matredi aho · palaśa ? ? ///
  7. dro praharo dada[śe] cadatho ? ///
  8. aho lakso dadila o̱ ya ? ///
  9. palaiḍrago viriḍrigo spave[dr.] ///
  10. spuaḍ[aḍiroge dadaḍrige] ///

[10] The example of the five powerful men. ... [11] They asked each other: "Today, how many ..." [12] "Could it be that (*Pāṭaliputra) is infested with thieves?" [13] One said: "I too. ..." [14] One man after another spoke. [15] ... said: I will protect. ... [16] "... I will strike a blow." The fourth ... [17] "I will punish with a lash of one hundred thousand." [18] ... Power of Protection, Power of Vigor ... [19] ... Power of Mindfulness ... Power of Punishment. ...

Avadāna 9 (pl. 21, lines 20-26):

  1. pokhaladi[·] puḍi ? + + ///
  2. ? matredi budha*ṣa[·] cs ? ///
  3. no paldi[o]· mame ? ///
  4. yavi kalagoṭ*do ///
  5. [o] vedanadukhaṃrvasu ///
  6. no mo tasa dafe[̣e ? ///
  7. /// no vaci[do] ? ///

[20] Puṣkalāvatī. ... [21] said to the Buddha. ... [22] protected. Of me. ... [23] Then he died. [24] ... Agony and sorrow ... [25] of him, two ... [26] went ...

Fragment 3: Transcribed Text and Translation

BL Fragment 3A, Recto (pls. 22-7)

  1. /// ? a ? thiaṣ[mi]
  2. /// mi · nagarami · grahavaṣi hova[dḥ]
  3. /// ṣa ? yaṇiẓe[·] maha[ra]ṣyo yaṣi
  4. /// ? ḍ[a] phoḷiyo gado [pa]ṭanaṣa
  5. /// ? rma + + + + ? + ? ? ? [do]
  6. /// ? ? garo baṣṭe[e]ṇo graha[do]
  7. (*ṣavaṣi[ḍ]a[ṣ]ho ṣarvo maridave o 1 taṣemi

Verso (Pūrvayoga of Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya)

  1. (ithidago ṣarve[i])
  2. (*aṣtadakodihasa proṣi[ḍ]i[va]ḷyoge kalala hovadi aba-
  3. (*daro prave[ṣi]ḍ[i]gabudho · āgado · vaṣavaṣo taṣya dita ?
  4. /// yaṣi ṣo kalalo matri[dḥi yadi ma
  5. (*ṣarvakale aval[i]gachasi · ta karavila taḍi ṣalo
  6. /// [·] ṣarea tremayo kalal[i]*[io]
  7. /// ??? di
  8. /// [ṣa] teno ka
  9. /// wa ? ? [dḥi vi]pariṣa[///
  10. /// vena kṣine[di vi]garo ṣarvi
  11. /// ? agaḍa[ cadana[ka]*[tho] ?
  12. /// ??? ci ?

3A.1r-7r (Avadāna 1):

[1-2r] ... in the city ... there was a householder. [3r] ... The great king then ... [4r] plank ... went to. [5-6r] ... insight and knowledge ... was grabbed by the hand. [7r] ... the (*avadāna. Everything should be told. (*Avadāna) 1. ...

3A.0v-11v (Avadāna 2 — Pūrvayoga of Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya):

[0v] (All is written.) [1v] (*Pūrvayoga of Ajñāta Kauṇḍinya. He was a potter. [2v] (*A certain pratyekabuddha came. A rain-retreat residence was given to him. [3v] Then that potter said: "If you come to me (*for the whole time), [4v] then I will have a hut built for you." [5-6v] And (*for) the whole three months, the potter ... [7v] ... by him ... [8v] ... regretful ... [9v] ... by which (*his) unwanted condition was destroyed. Then ... [10-11v] came ... sandalwood ...

BL Fragment 3K Verso (pl. 27)

3K.1v. /// ? ? ? ///

BL Fragment 3L Verso (pl. 27)

1v. /// o v[i]baradi [..]d. ? ///
2v. drame [u]a[rv. [ṣa] ? ///
3v. /// dharma aṇatva ṣato ///
4v. /// ? r[aha] ? ///

[1v] ... stayed in ... at the (*Jetavana) monastery ... [2v] in the park. All ... [3v] ... the dharma ... not self ... [4v] [arhat]. ...

Fragment 21: Transcribed Text and Translation

Verso (pl. 28)

1v. /// ? ? ? + + + + + + + ? ? ? ? ? .a ///
2v. /// ? [..] do eka ṣumaye bhal̥gava ṣava[ ? + + + + ? ///
3v. /// ?.a ? matre[dḥ] ? /// 21A /// te ///
4v. /// bhagavada praca[ṣ.ṣ. + + + + ///
5v. bhagava ṣa ? .e. ? mi ó
6v. kusni dharmami [hud. ] + + + + + ///
7v. ? [ri] ṣal[r]va ṣa ? ? + bhikṣa ///
8v. [aha] ? ? ? ? [ṣa] g. ? ? ? ?
9v. ? ? [a] c[e]va dha[r]ma thidaga dha ? ? .ga
10v. [o]. [a] ? bh. ? ? ? ? ? di ? ? ?

Recto (pl. 28):

The recto is too poorly preserved for continuous translation. Only scattered syllables survive.

21v Translation:

[1v] ... [2v] ... at one time the Blessed One ... [3v] ... said ... [4v] ... the Blessed One proclaimed ... [5v] the Blessed One ... [6v] ... in the good dharma ... [7v] ... all ... bhikṣu ... [8v] ... [9v] ... the dharma standing (*= enduring) ... [10v] ...

Fragment 21 verso is too poorly preserved to produce a connected translation. The commentary confirms that only a handful of individual words can be discerned. The general theme concerns the longevity of the good Dharma (saddharma) — whether and for how long the true teaching will endure after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa. The nidāna can be partially reconstructed from Pali and Gandhāri parallels as a scene at the Jetavana monastery in Sāvatthī.

Supplementary Fragments A-C: Transcribed Text and Translation

SF A Recto (pls. 29-30)

1r. [str.] .a ? + + + + + [t.] g. ///
1ar. (ithidago) ? ? ?) ///
2r. [p. [y]a[do] [yaṣi] ? ? ///

SF B Recto

1r. puḍa maharava pras. ///
1ar. (ithidag. i[me]i) ///
2r. ? ? ? ///

SF C Recto

1r. /// ? + ? ? .a ? ///
2r. ruvano matr[do] ? ///

SF C Verso

1v. u.[ge] ? ///
2v. /// ? ? ///

SF B Verso

1v. yasi ruja pra[te] ///
2v. somare hovedi maha[tv]e ///

SF A Verso

1v. [k]hvasi pradekṣami ///

Translation:

[A.1r] ... (are written ... ) [A.2r] Then ... [B.1r] ... merit ... great king ... [B.1ar] (... these are written ...) [C.1-B.1v] ... Then the king arrived. [B.2v] ... there was a monk. A noble being. ... [A.1v] In a certain country ...

Colophon

Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026. Translated from Gandhāri Prakrit (Kharoṣṭhī script, first century CE birch-bark scrolls). Source: Timothy Lenz, Gandhāran Avadānas, Gandhāran Buddhist Texts 6 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010). Chapters 6-9, pages 95-127. Blood Rule compliant — all English independently derived from the Gandhāri source text as transcribed and edited by Lenz; Lenz's commentary and translations consulted as reference for damaged passages.

🌲

Source Text

Fragment 2 — Transcribed Text (pls. 20-21)

Recto

  1. paṣide praṣyadel ya[v]i ///
  2. ra jihoṇige mahakṣatrasa///[*o]
  3. riadi manuśia pradi ? ///
  4. araṣṭriśta kṣa ? ///
  5. gadharami o ? ///
  6. ve[tra]geṇa bahadi kḷ[e][t][..] ///
  7. o 5 takṣailara[ya] ///
  8. vadi[a] o 6 maṣrago .a ///
    8a. (ṣarva ime avadana a ?)
  9. girge avajadi ///
  10. o pacame idi̱gano dṛḷṭhiḍae ḷ ///
  11. se uṭamāṃda pruchadi aca kada ? ///
  12. kici coraṣamagulẹ sṿadi ///
  13. eke matr[e]di aho pi ka ///

Verso

  1. eke puraso eke pal[rha[se] maḷi[*tredi]
  2. matredi aho · palaśa ? ? ///
  3. dro praharo dada[śe] cadatho ? ///
  4. aho lakso dadila o̱ ya ? ///
  5. palaiḍrago viriḍrigo spave[dr.] ///
  6. spuaḍ[aḍiroge dadaḍrige] ///
  7. pokhaladi[·] puḍi ? + + ///
  8. ? matredi budha*ṣa[·] cs ? ///
  9. no paldi[o]· mame ? ///
  10. yavi kalagoṭ*do ///
  11. [o] vedanadukhaṃrvasu ///
  12. no mo tasa dafe[̣e ? ///
  13. /// no vaci[do] ? ///

Fragment 3A — Transcribed Text (pls. 22-7)

Recto

  1. /// ? a ? thiaṣ[mi]
  2. /// mi · nagarami · grahavaṣi hova[dḥ]
  3. /// ṣa ? yaṇiẓe[·] maha[ra]ṣyo yaṣi
  4. /// ? ḍ[a] phoḷiyo gado [pa]ṭanaṣa
  5. /// ? rma + + + + ? + ? ? ? [do]
  6. /// ? ? garo baṣṭe[e]ṇo graha[do]
  7. (*ṣavaṣi[ḍ]a[ṣ]ho ṣarvo maridave o 1 taṣemi

Verso

  1. (ithidago ṣarve[i])
  2. (*aṣtadakodihasa proṣi[ḍ]i[va]ḷyoge kalala hovadi aba-
  3. (*daro prave[ṣi]ḍ[i]gabudho · āgado · vaṣavaṣo taṣya dita ?
  4. /// yaṣi ṣo kalalo matri[dḥi yadi ma
  5. (*ṣarvakale aval[i]gachasi · ta karavila taḍi ṣalo
  6. /// [·] ṣarea tremayo kalal[i]*[io]
  7. /// ??? di
  8. /// [ṣa] teno ka
  9. /// wa ? ? [dḥi vi]pariṣa[///
  10. /// vena kṣine[di vi]garo ṣarvi
  11. /// ? agaḍa[ cadana[ka]*[tho] ?
  12. /// ??? ci ?

Fragment 3K Verso (pl. 27)

1v. /// ? ? ? ///

Fragment 3L Verso (pl. 27)

1v. /// o v[i]baradi [..]d. ? ///
2v. drame [u]a[rv. [ṣa] ? ///
3v. /// dharma aṇatva ṣato ///
4v. /// ? r[aha] ? ///

Fragment 21 — Transcribed Text (pl. 28)

Verso

1v. /// ? ? ? + + + + + + + ? ? ? ? ? .a ///
2v. /// ? [..] do eka ṣumaye bhal̥gava ṣava[ ? + + + + ? ///
3v. /// ?.a ? matre[dḥ] ? /// 21A /// te ///
4v. /// bhagavada praca[ṣ.ṣ. + + + + ///
5v. bhagava ṣa ? .e. ? mi ó
6v. kusni dharmami [hud. ] + + + + + ///
7v. ? [ri] ṣal[r]va ṣa ? ? + bhikṣa ///
8v. [aha] ? ? ? ? [ṣa] g. ? ? ? ?
9v. ? ? [a] c[e]va dha[r]ma thidaga dha ? ? .ga
10v. [o]. [a] ? bh. ? ? ? ? ? di ? ? ?

Supplementary Fragments A-C — Transcribed Text (pls. 29-30)

SF A Recto

1r. [str.] .a ? + + + + + [t.] g. ///
1ar. (ithidago) ? ? ?) ///
2r. [p. [y]a[do] [yaṣi] ? ? ///

SF B Recto

1r. puḍa maharava pras. ///
1ar. (ithidag. i[me]i) ///
2r. ? ? ? ///

SF C Recto

1r. /// ? + ? ? .a ? ///
2r. ruvano matr[do] ? ///

SF C Verso

1v. u.[ge] ? ///
2v. /// ? ? ///

SF B Verso

1v. yasi ruja pra[te] ///
2v. somare hovedi maha[tv]e ///

SF A Verso

1v. [k]hvasi pradekṣami ///

Source Colophon

Gandhāri Prakrit, Kharoṣṭhī script. British Library Collection, Kharoṣṭhī manuscript fragments. Fragment 2: Or. 14915.6 (frame 6; pls. 20-21). Fragment 3: Or. 14915.7 (frame 7; pls. 22-27). Fragment 21: Or. 04195.42 (frame 42; pl. 28). Supplementary Fragments A-C: pls. 29-30. First century CE. Birch bark. Gandhāra (ancient northwest India / modern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan). Dharmaguptaka school. Edited by Timothy Lenz, Gandhāran Avadānas, Gandhāran Buddhist Texts, Volume 6 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2010).

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