The Spitzer manuscript

The Spitzer Manuscript (1st-2nd Century CE)^[1] is the oldest surviving Sanskrit manuscript^[2] ever found. The highly fragmented material was discovered in 1906 by a German expedition team headed by Indologist Dr. Moritz Spitzer. The material was found in Qizil^[3](Central Asia) which falls in the ancient silk route. The material is currently preserved in State library of Berlin, Germany. The work is unique in that no parallel work has ever been found related to it and also the text has not been transmitted to China/Tibet/Japan through translations like most other early Buddhist texts do.

Script Used

This ancient manuscript was written with a broad-nib copper pen in Kuṣāṇa-Brāhmã script.

Contents

The account of the manuscript as edited by Franco is presented below with a few comments.

* avidyA-lakShaNa; godAna vastra-dAna, criticism of the ghR^ihastAshrama, brAhmaNa-s. None of this is clear as the pages are rather fragmentary.

* An account of AjIvika theories such as dharma and adharma having no consequence.

* Some account of sukha, dukha, death, bandha and mokSha, etc.

* An account of the properties (lakShaNa-s) of the primary substances teja, vAyu, Apa etc. A detailed account of vaisheShika theory of guNa-s, probably statement of a pUrvapakSha for a nAstika (?)

* The four Arya satyAni of the buddha and the concept of nairAtmya.

* Some account of principles of logical inference and argument.

* saMkSipta rAmAyaNa- a summary of vAlmIki’s epic. A parvan summary of the mahAbhArata. It should be noted that this is fragmentary with the so claimed missing virATaparvan being a lacuna in the manuscript with some name starting in ‘a’ or ‘A’, which might have read aj~nAtaparvan – effectively the same as the virATaparvan. The missing anushAsanaparvan cannot be confirmed as being really missing or: 1) poor preservation; 2) some Mbh manuscripts outside India, like Indonesia, combine the shAntiparvan and the anushAsanaparvan; simply accidental or ignorant omission by the author.

In conclusion, the evidence is just tenuous to insist that this fragmentary parvan list from a unique manuscript from uttarApatha (Central Asia) represented the state of the Mbh as was known elsewhere in jambudvIpa at that age. Franco also places a fragment of the text regarding the origin of daitya-s and dAnava-s, a legal procedure, an account of the gandharva veda, the chatuH ShaShTi kalA-s, vedA~Nga-s, and the duties of each varNa in this part of the text.

* Brief account of upaniShad-s, mantra-s and brAhmaNa injunctions. The concepts of adhidaiva and adhyAtman.

* Brief account of taxonomy of living beings.

* The claim that the buddha knew all of the veda, the vedA~Nga-s, astronomy, dance and music. Arguments [possibly of an Astika] as to why the buddha could not have been all-knowing.

* The buddha as an authoritative teacher, the merits of building stUpa-s, the evils of dishonest actions, destruction of desire by knowledge, a meditation on the bodily processes to end desire, mokSha, use of garlic vis-a-vis brAhmaNa-s and shaka-s.

* Nature of saMsAra, a refutation of Ishvara concept, law of conservation of matter and the beginningless nature of saMsAra.

* An attack on the bauddha-mata [Arguments of mImAMsaka-s]: The buddha’s teaching is not pramANa because he used prAkR^ita, examples of vulgar prAkR^ita

* Debate regarding whether compassion is dharma because it involves attachment to the object of compassion.

* sharabha and other animals.

* Existence of past and future dharma-s in addition to those of the present – bauddha theory of sarvAstivAda, which was popular in uttarApatha and among the chIna-s.

* Discourse on how the Arya satyAni of the buddha can be understood – by a gradual process or in a sudden revelation. The text explains that it is a gradual process.

* An attack on the Astika theory of the “self-luminescent” consciousness.

* The tathAgata’s place in the saMgha and the obscure question of whether making a donation to the saMgha is a donation to the buddha.

* The concepts of samyag-buddhi and mithyA-buddhi – correct and wrong cognition.

* An attack on the kAshyapIya theory of the action continuing to exist until it bears fruit.

* Lengthy philosophical considerations and debates between tAthAgata-s and naiyAyika-s, mImAMsaka-s and sAMkhyavAdin-s.

References