British Library Kharoṣṭhī Fragment 10 (Gandhārī)
This is a Gandhāri Buddhist doctrinal discourse preserved on a birch-bark scroll dating to the 1st–2nd century CE, acquired by the British Library as part of the collection of twenty-eight scrolls found in an inscribed clay pot. The scroll was folded lengthwise while rolled, causing the right half to be lost — approximately fifty to sixty percent of the original text is missing.
Five sections survive, each subdivided into four pādas (quarters), covering: the Noble Eightfold Path, habits and disciplines, good people and bad people, emptiness, and Buddha-dwelling. The text employs a scholastic method of quotation and exegesis, citing canonical statements and analyzing them through multiple interpretive lenses with phrases like "which says," "there they say," and "others say." Named disciples appear, including Maudgalyāyana, and doctrinal categories are systematically applied.
The scribe's orthography is notably inconsistent — Sanskrit, "standard Gandhāri," and Pali forms of the same words appear interchangeably, suggesting a living bilingual or trilingual scholastic culture. This is the only known copy of this particular doctrinal compilation.
This is a Good Works Translation from Gandhāri Prakrit. Translated from the critical edition published by Kelsey Martini (LMU Munich, 2022). No prior freely available English translation existed.
Gospel Reading
Section 1 — The Noble Eightfold Path
... that which is uneven ... here, below ...
... one who has understanding, by understanding — with those dharmas ...
... conjoined ... which says: by the destruction of the meditative absorptions ...
... conjoined with understanding, made ... conjoined with energy ...
... dissociated from the defilements ...
... dissociated from the factors, with many, conjoined ...
... accomplished — by those insights, the remainder ...
... up to the five hindrances. The third pāda, which says ...
... painful — by the noble eightfold path. The three factors of dharma: the aggregate ...
... what becomes? Is the noble eightfold path ...
... the noble eightfold path — by the path, with the three factors of dharma, conjoined ...
... which says: in brief, the detail is grasped here of the noble eightfold path ...
... in the world, the noble eightfold path — knowledge ...
... absorbed in the factors of dharma, not diminished. The three factors of dharma in the noble eightfold path ...
... the noble eightfold path was previously shown. And then the five — what, moreover? What is the unconditioned ...
... the factors: and of this, the act of knowing, having been asked ...
... "Which, Venerable Sir, are the dharmas proclaimed by the Blessed One? The four foundations of mindfulness, up to the noble eightfold path" ...
Section 2 — Habits and Disciplines
... he speaks of release, up to ... the third pāda, which says ...
... delights — therefore that one is settled, without occasion, calmed. Which says: "Endowed with habits and discipline" — what ...
... that which is to be calmed, and the instruction. There they say: all this is to be calmed through habits and discipline ...
... desire ... is to be spoken of by the sūtra, taught to those to whom it should be taught ...
... Maudgalyāyana, the wise one. Which says: "Is there, brahman, any monk who is praiseworthy?" There they say ...
... what is the reason ...
... which says: in brief the meaning is shown and expanded by this. The second pāda, which says: "Full of energy," he says ...
... of the destruction of the taints, taintless, liberation of mind, liberation by understanding. Dear one, do these ten dharmas of equal merit ...
... is settled. Then — not of equal merit. He says: "What are the ten praiseworthy dharmas?" There they say: two types of energy ...
... just as one who is dispatched, so too he speaks. Just as a living person, a man — so too it is said. Not ...
... which dharmas? Or rather: the one, the other ... praiseworthy, he says ...
... and then attaining the meditative absorptions, he says: attaining constancy, attaining without difficulty — is this term synonymous?
... conjoined. Therefore ... others say: just as thought-dharmas ... with the counterpart, just as the five ...
... to be accomplished — if something is to be accomplished by a trainee, what is to be accomplished? For what reason does the elder himself reflect? There they say:
... desires ... ❁ the wise one says ...
Section 3 — Good People and Bad People
... by what unwholesome dharmas is he endowed? Is it not by this course that he is endowed? Then indeed, this ...
... he speaks the speech of a bad person, up to: he speaks the view of a bad person. There they say: that which is purified ...
... he says: with those he is not endowed as equal. The second pāda, which says: "A bad person" ...
... endowed with those dharmas, that one is a bad person. In some way the bad person is to be purified. The bad person ...
... then — not a bad person? When it is said "bad person" — a bad person thinks thoughts of sensual desire, thinks thoughts of ill will ...
... this is reflected upon by him — they are not the characteristics of a stream-enterer. Therefore that one does not speak as a bad person. The third pāda ...
... in me, indeed, this form — the defilement is reflected upon. There they say: "Now, having obtained the dharma-teaching of the gods, accomplished ..."
... this ... when he remembers, whichever view — of what sort? Others say: "The benefit of another ..."
... the good person is to be distinguished from the bad person. He would know: "The bad person is a bad person" ...
... the fourth pāda, which says: "A good person is endowed with the good dharma," and he says ...
... whatever is secret — endowed with these dharmas. If he is endowed, how to the good destiny, to the heavenly world ...
... a person in his domain — and being endowed, he is not reborn. This sūtra is to be investigated ...
... of the ten wholesome courses of action, the cause of endowment — up to: a noble one also comes to know ...
... he realizes. Those go to the good destiny, to the heavenly world. ❁
Section 4 — Emptiness
The wise one says on emptiness: "Emptiness ..."
... he does not dwell much with this, or abundantly. If he dwells, for what reason? Emptiness, indeed, is reflected upon ...
... he sees — pleasant dwelling. With regard to the unobstructed one, they say: "This, this ..."
... the cessation of perception and feeling. There they say: the Blessed One does not for the sake of pleasant dwelling ...
... and a being ... apart from grasping of self ... this dwelling is abundantly experienced ...
...
... he turns his mind to forest-seclusion alone. What ... the Blessed One dwells with this dwelling ...
... he removes. There they say: of that, the entrance into emptiness ...
... the abandoning — one enters. Others say: two kinds of emptiness are to be known: leading-away emptiness and emptiness through non-apprehension ...
... the emptiness through non-apprehension is to be shown. Thus above it is shown ...
... he contemplates. If by this, above, not empty ... all those ...
... he will know. There they say: of all these, this is the entrance into emptiness. Not the five ...
... a being — therefore it should be understood. Desire, up to the taint of ignorance. "Those of mine do not exist" — there are two. Therefore ...
... emptiness — of this non-possessing, all ... the calming of weariness ...
... analysis, they become calm. Set in motion ... and the teaching of the renunciant, and the worthy one ...
... therefore it is to be known: by the abandoning of defilements ... and destruction, progress — uninterrupted, just as he says ...
... it is shown. Others say: illuminating ...
Section 5 — Buddha-Dwelling
... by dwelling, awakened, penetrated, calmed. What, then, is the Buddha-dwelling of the Blessed One ...
... he teaches the disciple. Which says: ... a monk, moreover, desiring ...
... for what reason — the Buddha ... the forest dwelling. This is your first pāda.
... there arises — and the perception of formlessness, transcending ... the perception of resistance, disappearing ...
... it exists — how? ...
... in me, with this dwelling he dwells ...
... just as ... this both-sūtra ...
... also Buddha-dwelling, also disciple-dwelling ...
... dwelling ...
... of dwelling — with what dharma ...
... which says: that which is Buddha-dwelling ... the path, the way ...
... he considers ...
... disturbance ...
Colophon
Translated from Gandhāri Prakrit by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with Claude (Good Works Translation, 2026). Source text: critical edition by Kelsey Martini, British Library Kharoṣṭhī Scroll Fragment 10: Description, Images, Transliteration, and Glossary (LMU Munich, 2022). The translation follows the Gandhāri transliteration; highly fragmentary passages (50–60% of the original text is lost due to the scroll being folded lengthwise and the right half destroyed) are rendered where readable and marked with ellipses where the text breaks off. Existing English translations were consulted as reference only; all English is independently derived from the Gandhāri Prakrit. Root verses and doctrinal terminology have been identified through Pali and Sanskrit parallels noted in the edition's apparatus.
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Source Text
Gandhāri Prakrit Transliteration (Kharoṣṭhī Script)
Recto:
1. ///iti ya viṣama + + + + atra ha adha mayi///
2. ///madheka pati ? diṇa prañae prañoti tehi dha ? ?///
3. ///.o ? .ehi s̱apra(*yuta) ? ? t. ya ahadi j̄amana j̄aṇo jaṣeṇa///
4. ///? ñas̱aprayuta karita vuta pracagas̱aprayuta j.///
5. ///kileśehi viprayuto ? ?///
6. ///agehi viprayuto babuhi s̱a///
7. ///? kirdida tehi darśatehi pariśeṣa ?///
8. ///? yava paṃca ṇivaraṇa ti tridia pādo ya ahadi ?///
9. ///ṇo duho aryeṇa aṭhagiyena mageṇa trae dhamakadha ti s̱agra///
10. ///pr.yati svabhapo ki ṇu aryaṭhagiyeṇa (*mageṇa)///
11. ///(*a)ryaṭhagiyeṇa mago ma⟨geṇa⟩ trihi dhamakadhehi s̱aprayu(*ta) ? ? ?///
12. ///(*a)hati s̱akṣeva vistaro iśa grahido aryaṭhagiyas̱a magas̱a///
13. ///? ? .r. vi loge avi aryaṭhagiyo mago ñaṇa ? ?///
14. ///? dhamakadheṣu praṇasto ṇa vaṇa trae dhamakadha arye aṭhagiye mage///
15. ///(*aryaṭhagiyo) mago purvo daśido ki paṇa paṃc̄a aha ki s̱akhada adhakh.///
16. ///.u do kadhaṇa ca edas̱a ca ṇaṇakaraṇo prochidua(*mo) ?///
17. ///(*kata)ma bhadaṃte bhag̱avado dhama akhydada catvare svatovastaṇa yava ariyo aṭhagi(*yo mago)///
18. ///? ? ? ? go ? + + + ? do daśidi ya kas̱a da ?///
19. ///? bha vi/o ? da traya dhadua ṇiryaṇae s̱abadati kas̱a ci siati kapida ṇ.///
20. ///apare ahati keṣa ci siati ary[a/o]ṭhagiyo maga ti ki///
21. ///.u aya ṇaṇavado bahojaṇaahidae s̱abadadi mage va padi(*padaṣu)///
22. ///ṣyaṇati yadi eda eda ahida va dukha va yava mage va pradipadaṣu va ida su(*tre)///
23. ///? bhapati upaṇahi krodhaṇa bhikhu tadha ra ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ka mo///
24. ///tatra ahadi yadha tava teṇa viadadarśadava tadha ahadi mage va pratipadaṣu///
25. ///tadha ahadi krodhaṇa bhapati upaṇahi ti apare ahati imeṣu pa(ṃ)ca(*ṣu)///
26. ///.ṃṭh./st. moṣa bhapati yava mi/gachi ? ? ? tridiya pāda ya ahati///
27. ///rati tadha so asig̱araṇa vośamida vudo ya ahati dhamada viṇayado ki///
28. ///(*vo)śamidava ya adepa/śa ? vaṭaka ti tatrahadi s̱arva eda dhamada viṇayado vośami///
29. ///? r/kṣida kamo ? ? ? vucadi sutreṇa ocaridave taṇa yes̱a deśidave///
30. ///godayamogalaṇada praña ya ahadi asti bramaṇa ko ci bhikhkṣu bhapaṃṇiyo tatra a(*hadi)///
31. ///ki karaṇo e ? ? ?///
32. ///(*a)hati s̱okṣeveda artho eteṇa vistarita darśido [0] dutiya pāda ya ahadi aradhaviryo bhapati///
33. ///? aśravaṇa kṣayae aṇaśrabho cedovimuti pañavimuti piyalo ki ṇu ho ima daśa dharma dulyakala///
34. ///.y.śamati adha ṇa dulyakala kadha daśa bhāpaṇiya dhama bhapati tatrahati due virya ?///
35. ///? ro/i yadha s̱aprathavidakaṃ tadha vacaṃmati yadha pāṇa krida puruṣa ṇara tadha ucati ṇa vara ?///
36. ///? ? ? y/śa dhama ti uta añadara anyatara ? ? ? bhāpaṇiyo bhāpati ti///
37. ///? ṇaṇa adha cada dhiyaṇalabhi bhapati ṇiyamalabhi akrikhtsaakiśaralabhī ki ima pada ekartha///
38. ///s̱aprayuti tadha pra ? ? .y. .u apare ahadi yadha vitakya dharma a ? ? ? pratisaḷaṇeṇa yadha paṃṇa///
39. ///s̱akatavaṃ ki ci śekhkṣo s̱akatavya yavi s̱akatava ki kāraṇa thero aham eva parikirdayati tatrahati///
40. ///? ? ? ? kāme kiṃ prā ? ? sakā [ ] tava ❁ ? .e ? g. praña ya (*ahadi) + + + +///
Verso:
41. ///? kehi va akuśalebhi dhamehi s̱amuṇag̱ado ki ṇa atieṇa cevya s̱amuṇag̱ado adha ṇa hi e da ? ?///
42. ///(*as̱apuru)ṣavaca bhāpati yava as̱apuruṣadriṭhi ca bhāpati tatrahati ya hi s̱odha ? hi ? .ehi s̱.///
43. ///? tehi bhapati tehi ṇa s̱amanmagado ucyati dutiya pāda ya ahadi as̱apuruṣo s̱. ?///
44. ///etehi dhamehi s̱a⟨ma⟩nmagado s̱o as̱apuruṣo ki ci s̱odavaṇo as̱apuruṣo ? ?///
45. ///ṇya adha ṇa as̱apuruṣo vutatana as̱apuruṣo kāmavitrakaṃ pi vitraketi ? k. vapādavitrakaṃ///
46. ///ma iśa pārikirdida ṇa te środavarṇa tasma s̱o ṇa adhapuruṣo vatavadi [] tritiya paṃda///
47. ///? me eva rupaṃ kileśa paṃrikirdida tatrahadi edaṇi labhīta devaṇa dhamadeśaṇa krida///
48. ///? ? eda ? sma eti yada dristi katara damudas̱a apare ahati paraṇugraha mi ṇi ha///
49. ///?e s̱apuruṣaasapuruṣebhiṃ vis̱ajedavyaṃ jaṇeyadi asapuruṣo asapuruṣo ? ? .ṃ///
50. ///khkṣado [] caturtho pādo ya ahadi s̱apuruṣo s̱adhamas̱amanmag̱ado ca bhaṃpa///
51. ///tita ki ci rahado etebhi dhamebhī s̱amanmag̱ado yadi s̱amanmag̱ado kadha sugadisva///
52. (*rgaloke) ///puruṣa bhakṣe adha s̱amanmag̱ado ca ṇa ca upaparyati ida sutra śocidavya///
53. ///(*dasa)ṇa kuśalaṇa kaṃmapathaṇa s̱amadaṇahedu yava rahapaṃ pi prañaya(*ti)///
54. ///s̱akṣi karoti te sugatisvargaloke upapajati ❁ śuñadae praña ya ahadi śu(*ñada)///
55. ///ṇa ma ? dhida ṇya va baholo viharadi yadi viharadi ki karaṇa śuñada ceva pariki///
56. ///? paśiati phaṣuviharyada prati aṇarudhas̱a daṇa ahadi eda eda ?///
57. ///? + ? + s̱añavedaïdaṇirodha ti [0] tatrahadi ṇa bhag̱ava phaṣuviharartha s̱ama ?///
58. ///s̱atva ca ? ki ci praṇavaṇa añyatra atva graha + + + ti eta viharyā babhula aṇubhujeṣedi///
59. ///? + ? ? ? ? .i khkṣa g.ramado e p. dha da///
60. ///? rañas̱añam eva maṇadhikaroti ki ? ? bhag̱ava imeṇa vihareṇa viharati///
61. ///? ? ? yo e ? visarjayati tatrahadi tas̱a ṣa śuñadae praveśabhāg̱a ?///
62. ///? prahana praviśeati apare ahadi due śuñada ñadavya avaṇayasuñada ca ṇirōvaladhiśu(*ñada)///
63. ///? r.. da ? ? ? ? ṇiropaladhaśuñada darśedava tadha upaṃri darśida [0] ?///
64. ///s̱amaṇupāṣyati yadi eteṇa upaṃri ṇa śu ? ? ? ? ? na .u sarveṣa ye a ?///
65. ///? ? vi/pi ṣyadi ti [] tatrahadi s̱arveṣa ceva ede ṣa śuñada praveśo ṇa paṃṇa a ?///
66. ///satva tadha kamadhavya pratica yava avijas̱ava ti te me ṇa s̱ati asti due tra tadha ma dra///
67. ///? ? śa/yada yati imasa ajaviṇa sarva ? + ? kilamadhaprśaradhi ? ?///
68. ///vigraha pratip(r)aśrabhēṃti pracudharida vi di a tha śraṇovada ca rahada ? .y.///
69. ///? ? ? ? ? tadha ñatava kileśaprahaṇeṇa .i ? ha ? ca bhaṃga prag̱idi acaṃta yadha bhapā(*ti)///
70. ///? ? + + ? + darśida ? avare ahadi prabha ? hara upaṃdaṭa .o ? ? ? ? ṇe vuda ? ?///
71. ///? ya viharyā aṇubudha pratividha śamida ki aca bhagavada buddhavi(*hara)///
72. ///kaṇa upadaśati ya ahadi ? ? da y/śa ? ? ṇa da bhikhkṣu ceva agakhkṣa///
73. ///? ki karaṇo budho ? pra ka ? tra raṇa viharadi eda tava pradhama pāda iti [0]///
74. ///? di urpajati a rupas̱añaṇa ca samatikama ? pratikhas̱añaṇa ca asta(*gama)///
75. ///ti a ? ṇastida yati .y. asti kadha ṇa s. pratiya///
76. ///? me imeṇa vidra ? viharadi ? ? .r. ?///
77. ///kra ? + + yadha ku bhāga re va ma pādre a vi ma bhāśaṇe apradhayapradhaya ?///
78. ///.uga ? bhāpadi ta ka dha ima ubhaya sutra apaṃra sva ra śu ja ti ?///
79. ///.e avi budhaviharo avi śrapakavihara ta ?///
80. ///vihara śp. ? ? s̱. dati ya a ? ?///
81. ///viharas̱a aharya ka dharma pari ? .e///
82. ///..ṃ ? ti a + ra (*a)hadi ya budhaviharo ? .o margo maga ṇe s.///
83. ///? ? manyadhe ? ?///
84. ///kṣovha ka ṇa ? da ? ? + + + + + + kṣe .u ? e ṣa///
Source Colophon
Source text: Kelsey Martini, British Library Kharoṣṭhī Scroll Fragment 10: Description, Images, Transliteration, and Glossary (LMU Munich, 2022). 84 lines, birch-bark scroll, Kharoṣṭhī script, 1st–2nd century CE. British Library shelf mark Or. 14195 (part of the collection of 28 scrolls). Transliteration follows the Dictionary of Gāndhārī system (Baums & Glass 2002–).
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